Ellie vs Charles Carmichael
by Amron
Summary: It's time for Ellie to get involved into the spy world and who better to guide her than Special Agent Carmichael? A/N This time for real, Thanks, Maxxaran!
1. Chapter 1 Who is Charles Carmichael?

_A/N Yes, I know I hav__en't finished my other story, but I enjoyed so much__** Ellie Versus the Bridesmaids **__by __**HollywoodDramaQueen**__, that I have to explore the plot of Ellie being into the spy world… and who better to guide her than her own brother, the human Intersect? Enjoy! _

_And review me, please!_

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**Chapter 1. Who is Charles Carmichael?**

"Oh, come on, Devon! How you can say that? There is no way Jack Bauer can beat Jason Bourne!" exclaimed Morgan.

"Bro! That guy can do anything!" replied Captain Awesome.

Ellie watched the scene: her husband and Morgan were discussing fictional spies characters in front of three well known and REAL spies… _This is my weird family,_ smiling at the thought, looking around the table at them: Sarah and Mary seemed to be enjoying the absurd conversation, sharing a few looks, while Casey just silently ate his food… "_Which side Chuck would take part of_?" she pondered, missing her little brother. Morgan had said he had an off-site installation to perform. The conversation was heating up when Morgan, doing what he normally does when he wants to end a conversation: he asks the resident experts.

"What do you think, Sarah? Jason Bourne or Jack Bauer?"

Sarah raised her eyes. Three years ago she wouldn't have idea who they were. Still, she doesn't know how to answer Morgan.

"Well, if I have to pick… I guess I would choose, Charles Carmichael"

Everybody at the table laughed, even Casey gave a happy grunt. _Charles Carmichael? Wow, Chuck must be working on Sarah's knowledge of Sci-Fi_, Ellie thought. She honestly has no idea who Charles Carmichael is.

"Come on Sarah! We're talking about fictional spies, not real ones!" pressed Morgan.

"I think that's the point, moron!" Casey declared, taking part in the conversation for first time.

"Casey!"

"Please Walker, you know what I mean… he's a clown sometimes"

"Yeah? You didn't say that about Carmichael when he jumped from the Buy More roof to save our asses, or when he took down all those guards in the Intersect room… And last week, he proved he was worth more than your GRETA's" exclaimed Sarah, clearly on the defensive.

Casey grunted, annoyed "I get it, Walker. I know he's not a bad spy… but you have to admit he has an… unorthodox style."

"Sure he does!" interrupted Morgan. "He disarmed a bomb using internet porn! How cool is that?"

"Last week he did the same thing but with apple juice…" provided a smiling Sarah.

"You have to be kidding me!" blurted Devon.

"I read that he once piloted a helicopter while having no training. Is that true?" asked Mary.

"Yes he did" said Sarah, proudly.

"Man! I saw him once in action! He extracted a bullet from Casey's leg with the ability of a pro! You should have seen that, honey!" Devon turned to his wife, smiling "I told you, he has the hands of a surgeon." Ellie returned the smile, trying to hide the fact that she doesn't understand what was happening.

"It's true he saved all California from a nuclear bomb?"

Sarah nodded and Mary couldn't help but feel proud…

"_Ok, I'm missing something." _Ellie looked at the faces of her family, she could see the pride and joy in every one of them… even Casey.

Ellie cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, but who is Charles Carmichael?"

Immediately, everybody looked at Ellie with surprise.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" asked Ellie just before hearing Clara start crying. "Umm… Excuse me, I'll be right back…"

When Ellie exited the room, everybody look at each other.

"She doesn't know?" asked Devon in a whisper.

"It's obvious that she doesn't!"

"What we should do?" hissed Morgan.

"Tell her the truth, of course!" said Awesome.

"Yeah, maybe Chuck just forgot to tell her…"

"No" said Mary silencing everybody. "Chuck had the right to protect his spy identity from Ellie. She doesn't know my codename, or their father's."

"I agree. It is Chuck's choice" grunted Casey.

"So… what do we say?" insisted Morgan.

"Just play along, guys" answered Mary, hearing Ellie returning from the bedroom.

"Everything fine, babe?"

"Yes, she just dropped her pacifier… so" Ellie looked around and asked casually, "who's Charles Carmichael?"

"He's John and Sarah's partner," answered Mary. The other two spies understood the plot and played along, nodding. Ellie turned to Sarah, questioning her with her eyes.

"He works with us, Ellie", lied Sarah. She had started to hate lying to Ellie: she was her friend, and above all else, she would be soon her sister in law. Sarah wanted no secrets between them.

"Oh! Chuck knows him?"

"Better than anyone…" pronounced Morgan, nervously. Everybody knew he was about to spill the beans.

"Chuck's his handler", explained Casey, glaring menacingly to the little man.

"Really? Wow! Why hasn't he ever introduced him to me?"

"Chuck… kind of… prohibited him to be near of you", said Sarah. That wasn't a complete lie: Chuck always tried to avoid mingling his spy life with his normal life, namely Ellie.

"Why? Is he dangerous?" Ellie asked, worried about her little brother having to handle a psycho.

"No, of course not! But he has a lot of enemies" provided Devon "Believe me, I know…"

"So what? If I understand correctly, most of those who are sitting at this table have a lot of dangerous enemies and still, you're here, aren't you?" Everybody kept quiet. It was true, of course. "I think Chuck is being unfair with the man. And you too! From what I heard, he saved all of you numerous times and you treat him like that? Shame on you!"

"Babe!" started his husband.

"No Devon, that's not how I raised my brother. I'm going to talk with Chuck, and Carmichael will be here next Friday. Everyone will show him the respect he deserves!"

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Chuck Bartowski dropped on his couch.

"Chuck?" asked Sarah, coming in the door. She was returning from dinner at the Woodcomb's.

"Hello, dear" Sarah barely heard him. Chuck was face down on the sofa.

"Chuck, I think we should talk about something…"

"Honey, you know I love to do that, but right know is not the moment, ok? I have a headache the size of the world. Beckman kept me flashing over and over about the reports…"

"Yeah, well, I understand… but we really need to talk right now!" said Sarah, watching Ellie approaching their door.

"It can't wait until tomorrow?"

_Knock, knock._ Too late.

Sarah sighed. "It's for you."

Chuck groaned and went to open the door.

"Oh! Hi Ellie! Sorry I missed dinner, but I have this off-site…"

"Stop right there, Charles Irving Bartowski."

_Oh no! I'm in trouble… but why?_

"Can you explain to me why you haven't asked to dinner the man who has periodically saved our lives?"

"Uh?" exclaimed a bewildered Chuck.

"Look Chuck, I know you prohibited him to be near me, but…I mean, I understand that you are worried about my well being, but I think it's a little bit ungrateful to keep him away, don't you think? So, I want you to bring him to dinner next Friday, no excuses. Understood?"

"Umm… Ellie… who exactly are you talking about?"

"Charles Carmichael, little brother. I want to know him", Ellie stated simply. And just like that, she kissed him on the cheek and went to her apartment.

Chuck blinked and turned to Sarah.

"Ok, I guess we really need to talk…"

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	2. Chapter 2 Sarah's plan

_A/N Wow! What a great answer! I'm glad you like it. Now, I want to make an apology for my grammar. I'm real__ly sorry and a bit embarrassed, the thing is I'm a Spanish speaker, so sometimes I just don't see my mistakes… In fact, if is not for __**MyNameIsJeffNImLost, **__I would never noted that I wrote "Charmichael" instead of "Carmichael", hahaha! Anyway, I want to improve, so if someone wants to help me with grammar, I will appreciate that!_

_Meanwhile, enjoy the next chapter!_

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**Chapter 2. Sarah's plan**

For any customer, Chuck Bartowski would seem like any other lazy, mindless Buy More employee, sitting at the Nerd Herd desk daydreaming. Nothing could be further from reality: in fact, Chuck Bartowski had a very special mind, so special that he had a head full of government secrets, and right now he was trying to use that big brain of his to find a solution to the big problem he had. _There's no way I'm going to tell Ellie the truth_, _she will kill me,_ thought Chuck. W_hich means that she will never meet Charles Carmichael_. Besides, Carmichael was a very busy man with a full agenda… _Good, now I'm thinking of myself as if I were two different people… I swear, if I end up with a personality disorder, I will blame Sarah for it…_ _and speaking of the devil…_ He had just noticed Sarah, entering the Buy More. He was surprised about the lack of air effect in her hair… _It must be because I'm angry with her…_

"Hello Chuck!", Sarah innocently stated.

Chuck grunted.

"Oh, so now you're speaking in Casey-ish? I didn't know that the Intersect had that one", commented Sarah, and Chuck just glared at her. "Oh, please! What do I have to do for your forgiveness?"

"Well, maybe you could help me to find a way to fix your mess!"

"Hey! It wasn't just me! Morgan was the one who asked which spy I prefer, and I replied sincerely" she grinned at her fiancé. "I was being honest, it isn't what you want me to do?"

Chuck couldn't suppress a smile. "Since when did you become so good with words?"

"I have a good teacher", she answered, mischievously.

"Hello guys!" said a third voice.

"Oh, hi Ellie!" greeted Chuck, hiding his low spirit. He knew why she was here: when Ellie got an idea in her head, there is no way to remove it.

"So… little brother… Did you ask him yet?"

"Ummm… yes… as a matter of fact, sis, yes, I asked him"

"And? Is he coming?"

"You see, Carmichael is a very busy man… he told me to thank you, but he denied your invitation… you know, he has this top secret assignment in Taiwan…"

Ellie watched him sharply.

"Are you sure you're not trying to avoid it?"

Chuck held her glance…

"Fine. It's me, Ok? I don't think it is a good idea, sis, really…"

"Why not? Everybody has been talking to me about his actions, and I believe he deserves some recognition…"

"Yes, I know that…"

"So? What's the hard part?"

"Ellie… it's… it's complicated…"

"Oh, no! Not that again!" exclaimed Ellie. She was so tired of that sentence. "You know what? Fine! I will stop pressuring you about Carmichael, but I think you're acting like an ass!"

And she turned dramatically, leaving the Buy More.

"At least you're alive!" Sarah cheered.

Chuck just sighed, dropping his head against the desk.

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Sarah was in their apartment. Since she doesn't have a stupid cover job anymore, she could do her reports at home, and just now, she had finished the last one and was taking one moment to relax. In other times, she would be upstairs, talking about the wedding with Ellie, but since the Carmichael incident, the two siblings were extremely cranky. _They are so stubborn, _thought Sarah, a little frustrated. She had been trying to fix the things, but nothing she said could change Chuck's mind about telling Ellie the truth. "Sarah, she asked me to quit! She asked me to quit after she saw my father being shot! She would think I betrayed her trust!" Chuck had said. Sarah had to admit that he was probably right. However, Sarah knew everything would be easier if Ellie understood what being a spy meant to Chuck, if she could see the great man her brother had become…

"Come on, Devon! I'm here, let's go…" Ellie's voice flooded the room. She sounded worried.

Sarah reached the door immediately, only to find Chuck's sister being a human crutch for her husband.

"Oh God! What happened? Here, let me help you…" asked Sarah, while she put Devon's arm around her shoulders, helping Ellie to carry him.

"This man has broken his leg trying to climb a stupid mountain!"

"Climbing without a good harness? Not awesome!" said the Captain, flinching.

"Yeah, and he couldn't do it at a more inopportune time!" sighed Ellie, when they finally managed to put Devon on the couch. "I have this big fund-raising gala for my research into children with memory diseases and I needed Devon to be there!"

"Well, why don't you ask Chuck to go with you?"

"With Mister Ungrateful? No, thanks" replied Ellie. Sarah just rolled her eyes. "Besides, and please don't take this wrong Sarah, but Devon was… like the ace up my sleeve, you know?"

"I'm sorry Ellie, but I'm not following you…"

"The gala is sponsored by the National Association of Caring Women, you know? And believe me, I know how all those rich ladies look at my husband…" Sarah smiled. The spy genes in Ellie were surfacing… the Frost ones, she thought. "And you know I love my little brother, even if he's a pain in the ass sometimes, but honestly, I don't think he has what it needs to fill a tuxedo…"

"You would be surprised", murmured Sarah.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Please, continue…"

"That's all, Sarah! The gala is tomorrow, I haven't had time to find a dress, and now I have no date! What I'm going to do? I mean, it's my mission to raise that money…"

"Mission?" interrupted the blonde, with a twinkle in her eyes. Devon could see it, and glanced between Sarah and his wife, starting to feel worried.

"Yeah, the director of Pediatrics entrusted me with this task…" continued Ellie, not knowing the effect of her words in Sarah.

Of course! That was the answer! She had been trying to fix the problem as a common girl, and she wasn't a common girl… Suddenly, all was crystal clear: Ellie, a civilian, has a very important mission and she needed someone with experience for the work, a partner who could help her, a handler… she needed a spy, and Charles Carmichael was one of the best.

"I think I can help you" Sarah said, smiling. _This is going to be so good!_

"Really? How?"

"Well, not me exactly… but Charles Carmichael can"

"Wha… but I believe only Chuck could convince him!"

"Believe me, he owes me a lot, he will do it"

"Oh Sarah! You're a life saver!" Ellie beamed while hugging her.

"It's what I do best, I think…"

"Now, I just need to find a dress…"

"Don't worry about that, just be ready tomorrow at 2 pm."

"But the gala doesn't start until 9!"

"Yes, precisely" said Sarah, mysteriously. Ellie stared at her, blinked and then she was gone.

"I hope you realized what you just did", said Devon, from the couch.

"What? What did I do?"

"You just used the word "mission" in front of a superspy and then you accepted her help", noted her husband.

Ellie sighed, opening her eyes.

"Oh Devon! What did I get myself into?"

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_**A/N So, next chapter is CinderEllie!**__** (Haha! I'm so original…) Let me know what you think, ok?**_


	3. Chapter 3 The Fairy Goodmother

_A/N. Wow! What a wonderful answer! I'm very flattered, really… I always enjoyed telling stories, but it gets better when you know someone enjoyed them, too. __And it feels a thousand times better when you know people who are in other countries are reading you. I guess is part of the technology progress… _

_Anyway, thank you for read this, and if you're feeling like something else a little more complicated, you could go and read my other fic, "Good Company"… I'm just saying…_

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**Chapter 3. The fairy godmother.**

"You need who to do WHAT?" exclaimed Chuck, his voice raising.

"I need Charles Carmichael to take Ellie to her fund-raising gala" Sarah repeated, patiently.

They were in bed, cuddling, after a long day of emotional exhaustion.

"OK, I'm going to pretend that we are not talking about this again…"

"Look Chuck, I know you what you think, but I really believe that this is a great opportunity. You can show Ellie why you want to do what we do. I'm sure that once she found how much you love being an agent, and how good you are, she will change her mind. Besides, you spent almost two years complaining about how much you hated lying to Ellie and now that you have the chance, are you going to waste it?"

"And if I remember correctly, you spent those same two years saying to keep Ellie in the dark for her own safety!"

"Yes, and it seems that I was wrong. I suppose you remember Jason…" Sarah knew she was playing with fire, but she had to make her point. "None of that would have happened if she had known your secret… On the other hand, I think that you are being unfair with her, I mean, all of her family is in the business! Whether you want it or not, both of you have to accept that the spy world has been a part of her life since the beginning."

They spent the rest of the night in silence.

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The doorbell rang exactly at 2 o'clock. Ellie wasn't surprised to find Sarah on the other side.

"You're very punctual", noted Ellie.

"Yeah, comes with the job… Look, Ellie I have to ask you something…"

Sarah had been thinking about it all the night. Sure, she had convinced Chuck to go along with the plan, but somehow she felt he was hiding something from her. It wasn't until the next morning that he gave Sarah his conditions.

"_Sarah, I had been thinking about your plan and… well, I think you're right about being unfair with Ellie."_

"_So, are you going to do it?" asked Sarah, smiling._

"_Yes, but I have one condition." Chuck sighed deeply before continuing, "I never had the option to choose, so I want to give her the chance to decide if she really wants to do this"_

"_Chuck, is just a fund-raising gala…"_

"_No, Sarah, it isn't. It's about telling her the truth, including why her father died, and why her mother was away all those years… You're right, Sarah, my family had a lot of secrets, dangerous secrets that can change her vision of the world. It happened to me." He stared into her eyes, and she could see the weight they carried. She had never noticed it before, but she could recognize that look. That was the look she saw every morning in the mirror, when she felt the weight of her actions. It wasn't regret, but a strange mix of memories and hope about being normal. "She has the right to know, but I want to give her the choice" ended Chuck firmly. _

"Sure!" The sound of Ellie's voice brought Sarah to the present.

"Before we do anything, you have to tell me right now: do you really want to meet him?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ellie, worried about the change in Sarah's behavior.

"I mean, once you meet him, you have passed the point of no return. You will have to accept him as what he is: a spy. That means no scolding, no claims… You just have to trust him, even if he can't tell you everything he wants to…"

"Sarah, you're making me nervous. First Devon, now you… I mean, why are you telling me this? I thought everybody said he's not dangerous…"

"And he isn't. But you just have to know what it means to meet a spy."

"Well, I know you, and I know John and…"

"Exactly. You know John and Sarah, but you have never seen Colonel Casey and Agent Walker… Ellie, when you met him, you will realize he has a lot of answers about your family, which includes your own past. Are you ready to handle the truth?"

Ellie shut up for a moment. Devon had warned her about that, and she made her choice. In fact, what Sarah had just said only made her more determined. But first, she had a question.

"Do you trust him?" asked Ellie.

"With my life."

"Then my answer is yes, Sarah. Yes, I want to meet him, with all that that implies, and yes I want his help. I promise you, I will trust him and I will let him take the lead."

"Wonderful!" said Sarah, smiling. "Now, we have to go."

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After an hour of driving, Sarah and Ellie reached their goal: an old, semi-abandoned garage.

"An auto shop?" asked Ellie, raising an eyebrow.

"As you soon will notice, in the spy world not everything is what it seems." said Sarah, taking Ellie's hand into the shop.

"How can I help you?" said the old man behind the counter, while reading his magazine. Ellie could count his teeth with one hand…

"Hi Eddie!" greeted Sarah.

"Oh, Agent Walker! Yes, yes, we were waiting for you… and who I assume is your new partner." The old man extended his hand to Ellie and she took it. "Eddie Thomson, Captain, United Sates Marine Core, retired, at your service, Agent…"

"Oh, no! She isn't an agent, she's my asset."

"A very special one, if you brought her here, I must say… I was wondering what had happened between Agent Carmichael and yourself. He told me he would be coming to take his car… Never mind, let's get to our business", he said, opening the door behind him. Sarah indicated for Ellie to follow him.

"Oh my God!" Ellie screamed. They were standing at the entrance to a large, well-illuminated hall, full of fountains. A smiling, good-looking woman approached them.

"Agent Walker, we are ready for you. Follow me, please."

"Sarah, is this what I think it is?" whispered Ellie.

"If you're thinking, a very luxurious hidden spa, then you're correct."

"But why? I mean…"

"I thought that if you were going to take a look at the spy life, you must start with the pleasant side", said Sarah, simply. "Besides, I wanted to hang out with my best friend."

Sarah had said that without thinking, in an honest rush.

"Do you really think that?" said Ellie. Sarah could feel the blush on her face.

"Well, Ellie, it is not that you didn't know… I mean, you have always been there for me, even if I was being a complete bitch to your brother, not that I wanted to be a bitch, but you know, sometimes the work didn't let us be open and… not that I don't want to be honest, but my job…"

Ellie stopped walking. "Sarah, are you babbling?"

"What? No! I don't babble! I'm not Chuck!... Not that it is a bad thing, you know, being your brother…"

"Sarah, you're doing it again!" laughed Ellie.

"I suppose Chuck is rubbing off on me, isn't he?" Sarah said. She hadn't realized how Chuck's mannerisms were becoming hers. She wondered when she would start talking in Klingon and wearing Converse… She looked at her feet, instinctively. _Damn it!_

"It's part of being a couple", said Ellie, still laughing at Sarah's realization. "Believe me, sometimes it requires all of my self control to not say "Awesome" at everything, and… well, I really consider you as being my best friend, too", said Ellie, while she hugged Sarah.

The two women broke the hug and went smiling into the sauna.

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"I don't feel comfortable with this, Sarah". She could hear the uneasiness across the phone.

"Come on, Chuck! It's just a gala. We had been to them plenty of times!"

"It's not the gala, as you well know…"

"She's going to be fine. I discussed it with her and I really believe she can handle it."

"I don't know… it's just… I have a very bad feeling…"

"Stop thinking like that! Chuck, to make this work, you will have to act like the spy you are, not as her little brother."

"I don't know if I'm going to be capable of doing that…"

"Yes, you can. Besides, she wants to meet Charles Carmichael, so you are going to give her Charles Carmichael."

"I understand that, believe me, I know… But you, better than anyone, knows I can't help but feel like a boy in front of her… I mean, she's the one who made my Spiderman costume for Halloween and changed my sheets when I had nightmares…"

Sarah laughed a bit. "I understand, but it's because you..." and then she remembered what had happened at Ellie's. _It worked for me… but will it work for Chuck?_ She decided to give it a try. "Think of this as a mission."

"A mission?" repeated Chuck, and Sarah could hear the change in his voice.

"Yes. The Pediatric wing of Westside Medical Center requires funding to continue their research. In order to accomplish that, they recruited one of their best, Dr. Eleanor Faye Woodcomb. Now, Dr. Woodcomb knows everything she needs to know about the research, but that's all. She needs a partner, someone who can guide and protect her against all of the fundraising rivals that are sure to be there."

"So Dr. Woodcomb, requires a handler", Chuck asks, seriously. Apparently, he forgot they were talking about his sister.

"Exactly. So your mission is to keep Dr. Woodcomb safe and help her to reach her goal. Do you have any questions, Agent?" she asked in an impassive voice.

"No, Ma'am!"

"Very well, you're dismissed, then."

And Sarah hung up, Beckman style.

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"Wow!" exclaimed Devon and Morgan, when they saw Ellie. She was wearing a beautiful long blue dress, her makeup and hair matching it perfectly.

"I know, right?" exclaimed Ellie, excitedly. "Sarah took me to a Spa, and you wouldn't believe the amount of dresses they had… I feel like Cinderella! Thank you Sarah, you're the best fairy godmother!"

Sarah smiled widely tat her friend. She really looked radiant. "Well, now you only need the charming prince… " Sarah looked at her watch. "It's 7:45. I told him to meet us at 8, so he should be on his way".

They were currently around the fountain in the courtyard. Morgan had, somehow, managed to help Devon down the stairs. Ellie was so relaxed, that she didn't mind that her husband wasn't resting. They had argued that Devon wanted some fresh air. However, Sarah knew they were waiting to see Ellie's face when she discovered who was her date for the evening. Even Casey was spying through his window, and Sarah had to admit she was excited too.

"Remember Ellie, you promised me that you will trust him. No nagging and no claims."

"Yes, yes I know… Sarah, you are just make me freaking out…"

"Easy, babe, everything will be fine", said Devon, serenely.

"If he doesn't ruin everything" grunted Casey. He joined the group and looked at Sarah, "I don't know how you convinced him… By the way, Beckman wants a meeting in an hour. I told her Carmichael was sick".

"Thank you, Casey" nodded Sarah. They heard the sound of a car, parking.

"It must be the moron…"

Ellie could feel her heart beating at one hundred miles per hour. She would meet the man that had accomplished all those extraordinary things… a real superspy.

She turned and saw the silhouette of a tall man. As he approached, Ellie could see that he was wearing a black tuxedo. He wore it effortlessly and with elegance, as if he were quite used to it. Every step he made was graceful but calculated, and she could tell he was in complete control of his body. Ellie found herself feeling weak in the knees, in fact, they were feeling a lot like jello. The well-tailored tuxedo accentuated his torso, which wasn't as sculpted as Devon's, but wide enough to give him a manly, sophisticated air. In fact, the man emanated such confidence that the courtyard felt thick. She finally looked at his face. Short, curly brown hair was framing a pair of brown eyes…

_No way._

She stared at him, with an open mouth. He just smirked her.

"Ellie I want to introduce you to Agent Charles Carmichael" introduced Sarah, pleasantly.

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**A/N: Here you have. Next chapter, we will see them at the gala… and I'm bringing a special guest, muahaha! **

**Review, please ;)**


	4. Chapter 4 Carmichael's Spy Book

_A/N. So this story __has reached the 30 reviews mark! Wow! I'm really flattered! As I said before in my other story, the fact to know you wonderful people are reading this, and that you are enjoying it, that's like a talisman that keeps me smiling like a fool all day long. Really. So, I'm very thankful for that. Now, I don't know if you noted this, but suddenly my grammar mistakes are practically over! No, it's not magic, it's just that __**Maxxaran**__ checked this and helped me with it! God! His help was like a lifeguard in the middle of the ocean! _

_Disclaimer: I don't ow__n anything… _

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**Chapter 4. ****Carmichael's Spy Book.**

"Ellie? Are you OK?"

_O__f course I'm not! The boy I stopped going to school with his underwear over his pants is THE frikin Agent Carmichael!_

Ellie wanted to scream, to yell at him, to hug him… The rush of emotions she was feeling were so confusing, she just couldn't put them into words. In fact, the shock was so large; she hadn't uttered a single word since they left the courtyard. Now, they were in full-blown LA traffic, and she still hadn't articulated a word yet. So many things, so many facts… so many secrets…

"Look Ellie, I know you have a lot of questions. I promise you I will answer all of them when we returned from this…"

"Is it true?" Ellie blurted out, helplessly.

"What?" Chuck had been worried about Ellie's reaction, so much so that he could feel the anxiety in his stomach at her first sign of life after the "meeting".

"That you disarmed a bomb with apple juice."

"Oh, that!" Chuck felt his body relax. He had expected a claim or a nag, even a slap in the face. "It was one of my brightest moments."

"But how did you think of using apple juice?"

"Well, it seems that you were wrong. Too much McGyver didn't fry my brain."

Ellie laughed, and all the tension in the car suddenly dissipated. Even if she didn't like the situation, she had made a promise, and Ellie was a woman of her word. She took an appreciative look at her surroundings.

"Nice car! The CIA let you have it without a mission?"

"Thank you. Actually, it's mine. It was a gift from the NSA…" After capturing Volkoff, General Beckman wanted to reward him, so she gave Chuck a Mercedes Benz C230. He had never been a car fan, but when he saw it, he just felt the connection: it was love at first sight. Sarah had told him that the same thing had happened to her when she received her former Porsche. It had been a gift courtesy of Director Graham.

"But since I have a cover to maintain, I store it at the CIA garage." Ellie flinched lightly. _A cover to maintain…_ even in front of her. Chuck noticed the flinch and changed the subject. "I have been working on it… You want to see? Just press number 3 on the console."

Ellie did what he said. Suddenly a bunch of cheese balls started streaming from the cigarette lighter.

She looked at him, half smiling.

"What? Stakeouts make me really hungry…"

Ellie started to laugh. Superspy or not, her brother is a nerd. He took advantage of the moment.

"So… Sarah told me you already have a plan… Will you brief me?"

"Well…" Yes, she had a plan, but now, it just felt wrong. Devon was her husband, but Chuck was her little, engaged brother. "I believe I have to rethink it, Chuck."

"It's Charles, Dr. Woodcomb, and you can tell me. Maybe I will be able of help…" said Chuck -Charles-, all business.

"Ok, well… the thing is… the gala is sponsored by the Association of Caring Women…" started Ellie, embarrassed.

"Ah, a seduction assignment" said Charles, in a matter of fact tone. "Clever. Do you have a specific target in mind?"

"Umm…" Ellie looked at him. His reaction was nothing like she had expected it to be. The brother she knew would have twisted in discomfort, but now he had accepted it as if they were talking about a choice between breakfast cereals… _I have a lot to learn about Chu… Charles_, she corrected herself. "I heard Fernanda Romanov will be there…" she began to say, but stopped when she saw her brother's eyes lose focus for a moment…

"Fernanda Romanov, daughter of Vladimir Romanov, a well know Russian oil magnate. High grades in Harvard, no known attachments" repeated Charles, mechanically.

"How do you know that?" asked Ellie.

"I… that is one of the questions I will answer after the gala, all right? Now, tell me Dr. Woodcomb, can you identify her?" The Intersect had no photo of her, Fernanda was just a note attached to her father's file.

"Yes, I can… "

"Great. I will need you to point her out to me, understand?"

"Umm… yes, I think."

"Very well. And only as a reminder…" he said, when the the Grand Ambassador Hotel came into view, "…when we leave this car I will be Charles Carmichael, software entrepreneur and an old friend of Devon, and you will be Dr. Ellie Woodcomb. We cannot be identified as a Bartowski."

"What? Wait! What's wrong with being a Bartowski?"

"First Rule in Carmichael's Spy Book: protect your cover, protect your family. A spy's real identity is their most valuable secret and, believe it or not, our parents are very famous in certain circles…" The CIA hadn't yet received any information on whether Alexei Volkoff had passed on the details of Frost and Carmichael's real names. "Also, I have been to a lot of events like this one, so anybody could recognize me. If that happens, I don't want them to know we are siblings. That way, my enemies won't pursue you if somebody spilled the beans…"

And with that comforting sentence he left the car, leaving Ellie with only a couple of minutes to digest it.

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_How am I'm going to do this?_

After all the emotions and revelations, Ellie had forgotten her real task, and now she was a nervous wreck. Between the contrived laughter, the expensive outfits and the arrogant eyes, Ellie felt like an outsider in a very exclusive environment.

"Don't worry" whispered Charles into her ear. "I know they look scary, but believe me, they don't bite. Remember: appearances are deceiving. That's my Second Spy Rule." Ellie smiled at the sentence, remembering the Auto Shop." You just have to act like the beautiful, smart woman that you are and everything will be fine." Ellie was comforted by his words to her. "Besides, you look amazing tonight and I promise you I'm not going to leave you alone until you feel safe. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the free drinks, shall we?"

If Ellie felt like a fish out of water, Charles seemed to be in his element. He showed Ellie how to identify the best snacks (_"The crab cakes are always good, but try to not eat too much if you're going to dance"_ ), how to call the waiter properly (_"These people treat the waiters like scum -I know first hand- so, if you show them a little respect, you will always have your glass filled with the best wine")_, how to know the type of music that would be next… little details that made Ellie laugh, and at the same time let her see Charles' experience. She was enjoying the night so much that when the moment came to talk about her research, she didn't feel nervous.

"Eleanor! Here you are!" exclaimed Dr. Moore, Ellie's boss. Two more couples had accompanied him and his wife. "We were talking about your research. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to Dr. Eleanor Woodcomb, one of our most brilliant researchers and a great human being… "

"It's a pleasure. And I suppose you're Mr. Woodcomb" said one of the ladies.

"Oh, no! This is Charles Carmichael, Devon's oldest friend." Ellie told them. She felt very strange introducing her brother as somebody else. "My husband couldn't come. He broke his leg yesterday…"

"I'm sorry to hear that… Nice to meet you, Mr. Carmichael…" said the other lady, giving him a very appreciative look. He smiled at her and answered politely. "I think I have seen you before… Have we met?"

"I don't think so, but I come frequently to events like this, so maybe we have crossed paths sometime."

"That must be… So, are you here to support any cause?"

"Of course, I'm not only here just as Dr. Woodcomb's escort, I'm also her sponsor…"

"Oh, really? Then, I want to hear all about it. Tell us, Eleanor, what exactly is your research about?"

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After a while of explanation, Ellie had a little crew of women listening with interest. In fact, she already had half of the amount she needed, and Ellie had to admit that Charles' handsome look and perfect manners were helping a lot. He welcomed everybody with a polite smile and made a joke from time to time, just to maintain the mood. He also asked the correct questions at the correct time, so Ellie never worried about forgetting something important to explain.

"Well, it seems this must be a very interesting discussion" interrupted an elegant, young woman. Ellie recognized her as Fernanda Romanov, so she gave Charles an informative glance. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Dr. Woodcomb's research is just magnificent, Fernanda" said one of the older women to the newcomer.

"I would love to hear about it, then. Please, continue, Dr. Woodcomb" she said, but her eyes were fixated on Charles. "But first I would like to know who your charming companion is." She said, giving her hand to Charles.

"Charles Carmichael" he answered, taking her hand and kissing it. "My pleasure"

"I think the pleasure is all mine." Fernanda answered, giving him a predatory smile. Ellie continued with her explanation, but this time she felt distracted by the way Fernanda was staring at Charles, desire reaching her face. She returned her gaze to her brother, and then she could see the same lustful look in his brown eyes.

Ellie almost falls. _Oh, God!_

"Can you excuse us a second? I need to talk with my… sponsor"

Ellie took Charles' hand and guided him to a corner, but not before Charles give Fernanda the most lascivious smile ever.

"Is something wrong?"

"Is…? Wha…? Of course something is wrong! You are flirting with Fernanda!"

"Well, yeah! I believe that was the plan!"

"Yes, but not in that way! Chuck! You're engaged!" exclaimed a mortified Ellie.

"No, I'm not. I'm Carmichael, remember? Besides, Sarah ordered me to help you by any means necessary…"

"What?" Ellie said, incredulous.

"Look, it is not that bad! Seduction is part of being… what we are. Sarah trusts me as much as I trust her, and I would never do something to jeopardize that. " She still was looking at him suspiciously, so he let himself fall into his normal persona. Chuck placed his hands onto his sister shoulders and made her to look into his eyes. "Sis" he started, with a trembling voice, full of emotion. "I love Sarah, with all my soul, with all my heart. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her. Nothing." He had said that with so much devotion that Ellie could tell he wasn't lying. "Please, Ellie. I need you to trust me" ended Chuck, almost whispering.

Ellie swallowed the lump in her throat and then nodded. "Ok, Chu… Charles, I will. It's just…"

"Complicated?" said Charles, with a small laughing smile. "Believe me, I know… It was difficult for me at first too… but that brings us to Carmichael's Rule Number Three: trust your partners, no matter what." They heard the band starting to play a tango and noticed a few couples start to dance. Fernanda was approaching. "Well, here she comes…"

"Excuse me, Dr Woodcomb, can I borrow your companion for a moment? This is one of my favorite pieces and I believe Charles must be an amazing dancer…"

"Uhhh…" Ellie started, still doubtful about everything.

""Thank you, I will return him." said Fernanda, as she dragged Charles to the dance floor.

_Well, here is another thing I have to remember, Carmichael knows how to dance, _thought Ellie. The couple started to dance in the sexiest way ever, with such intensity that almost everyone in the room was watching at them. Seeing the way Charles and Fernanda moved, she realized that she has always thought of him as her _little _brother, someone innocent that she needed to protect from every bad thing in the Universe, including woman like Fernanda Romanov. She never thought about him as a man who could… well, be desired by women…

On the other hand, Ellie didn't consider herself a prude. After all, the way she and Devon had met wasn't exactly the most innocent, but that dance was… she required every ounce of her self control to run away with her eyes shut, screaming…

"A very interesting dance, isn't it?" asked a soft, British voice.

"You could say that" she murmured, her eyes still glued to the couple.

"He doesn't seem like that kind of guy…"

"I know! I mean, he has always been gentle and tender…"

"Do you know him?"

Ellie turned her head and found a handsome man smiling at her, interested.

"He's my… husband's best friend"

"I see… Oh, where are my manners? I'm Arthur Dawson."

"Ellie Woodcomb" she replied, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Wodcomb… May I offer you a drink?"

"Actually, is Mrs. Woodcomb…"

"I understand. But please, don't take my invitation as an offense. I just want someone to talk with and you seem like a very interesting woman.

Ellie didn't know what was it, but she trusted in his words, so she smiled and accompanied him to the bar.

"So, Mrs. Woodcomb… ", said the Englishman while offering her a glass of gin. "Are you here only to see your husband's best friend get lucky with a rich lady, or are you here for something else?"

"Actually, I'm raising funds…"

And then Ellie told him about what she was doing, about her research, and how she loves to help other people. She found that Arthur was a good listener, and a clever one. He asked intelligent questions and seemed more than interested. He made Ellie felt comfortable and soon, they were talking like old friends.

"… Capitan Awesome? Is it your husband's real nickname?"

"Actually, yes. My brother gave it to him, and now, everybody in our family calls him by it… I don't think Sarah even knows his real name."

"Sarah?"

"She's my best friend and my brother's fiancée."

"Your brothers fiancée?" repeated Arthur, as if he was realizing something. "I'm sorry, but could you tell me his name again?"

Ellie stared at him: why did Arthur needed to know Chuck's name? And the way he had reacted to her mentioning Sarah's name…

_Oh, no! _ She had spent an hour talking about her family with a complete stranger.

_Protect your cover, protect your family._

She had blown her cover in the most foolish way possible…

"I… I need to use the ladies room…" stammered Ellie.

She almost ran for the door.

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_Charles, where are you?_

She was trying to find him, but she couldn't see him anywhere.

She walked to the entrance and collided with the well-formed body of Fernanda Romanov.

"Ah, Dr. Woodcomb! Forgive the intrusion, but Charles and I were having an amazing time… He told me about your research and I have to say that I'm impressed, so I want to pledge financial support for your research."

"Oh!" said Ellie, caught off the guard. "I… Miss Romanov, I can't thank you enough…"

"Don't worry, Eleanor, as I told Charles, we are here to help people like you… ", said Fernanda, sympathetically. She turned to Charles. "Thank you for the dance, Charles, and for the talk. You're a true gentleman." She gave him a friendly smile.

"Please Fernanda, you're making me blush…" joked Charles. "Until next time, I hope"

They watched Fernanda as she returned to the gala.

"Well, mission accomplished", said Charles, happily. He clapped his hands together, "Do you want to go to dinner? I'm always hungry after a mission… what?" he asked. Ellie was giving him a quizzical look.

"How dis you get those funds?" asked Ellie, fearing the worst. She had realized that Fernanda and Charles were leaving the elevator when she encountered them.

"It was as she said: I talked with her about your work and how you help a lot of children, and she seemed to like it…"

"So you just talked?"

"Of course! You know? Everyone talks… or needs to talk. That's Rule Number Four. People like Fernanda are always treated a certain way because of her looks and power, so when somebody is willing to listen, they react accordingly… Why do you ask?"

The older Bartowski felt like an ass. "Never mind…"

"What? Wait! Do you believe that she and I have…?" Charles could say he had nailed it, "Of course not! God, Ellie! What kind of man do you think I am? I mean, I actually had the opportunity, and I won't deny it, according to the spy manual it is the best way to get what you want. But in Carmichael's Spy Book, I have the Rule Number 5: there is always an option."

_Carmichael's Spy Book? _

_Oh, God! Arthur!_

"Charles, I think I screwed everything up!"

"Why? Everything ended fine…"

"No, no… " Ellie said, worried. "When you were dancing with Fernanda I met this man…" and she told him about Arthur. As her story continued, Charles grew more and more serious. "… and when he asked for your name, I freaked out and went to the bathroom…" ended Ellie, trembling. "Oh, Chuck! I really ruined everything!"

"Ok, sis, calm down… we need to think now", said Charles, firmly. "Can you tell me exactly what he looked like?"

"Well, he was very… _British_: he had this oncoming beard and…" Ellie looked behind him and saw four men, heading to the back door. "Its him! Charles, that's Arthur!."

Chuck followed his sister's finger and saw an unconscious man being carried by three men. He focused on the unconscious one.

He remembered that face…

"Cole!" murmured Charles.

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_A/N__. So Cole is the mysterious guest star! You see, I always believed that Cole was an interesting character: no matter if he flirted with Sarah, he pushed Chuck to achieve his goals, he didn't confess the Intersect's identity and, when Sarah rejected him, he accepted defeat with honor… much better than Bryce and Shaw, don't you think?_

_Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to __**MyNameIsJeffNImLost**_, _as an acknowledgment for the last chapter of his wonderful story_ _**Chuck & Sarah vs. the Niece**_. _If you have time, you should_ _read it. _

_Meanwhile, please leave me a review, they really boost me to write. Seriously._


	5. Chapter 5 The diversion

_A/N: Hey! I'm back! I know, maybe this time I delayed a little more in updating, but I'm in college, and you know how is it… Ok, this chapter has a lot of sibling boundaries, so you're warned…_

_Again, my thanks to Maxxaran for his incredible support!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck… but you already knew that. _

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Chapter 5. The diversion

"What did you say?"

"His name's Cole, Cole Barker. He's MI6"

"Do you know him?"

"Yes, we worked… well, I have worked with him before" said Charles, remembering…

_He remembered that day as the beginning of a storm of decisions and answers… Before that mission, he had resigned himself to his fate; to be alone, to be the nerd who never gets the girl, to be the asset whose days where counted… But then, he heard the name Orion for the first time and his hopes for a normal life returned. Little did he know, that the name would be stuck with him for the rest of his life… But he had needed a shove to reach them, and it was Cole who had said those words: "If you want something bad enough, don't ever take no for an answer… and for God's Sake, man! Carry a gun or maybe two…" _

_That was the first time he decided to take control of his destiny, to have confidence in himself, instead of waiting for others to make the decisions about his life… that night was the first time he was Charles Carmichael in reality instead of name only…_

"So? Are we in trouble?"

"What?" asked Charles, shaking his head in order to return to reality "No, he's one of the good guys."

Ellie sighed with relief, but then she realized that the MI6 agent was in trouble. "What are they going to do with him?"

"Nothing good, I presume…" He moved instinctively to the back door, following the men. Ellie followed closely behind Charles. Every muscle in Charles' body was aching to go and help him… but then he remembered his asset.

"We have to go", said Charles. He grabbed Ellie's wrist, guiding her to his car in the opposite direction, and with the intention of reporting in to Beckman as soon as possible.

"Wait! Aren't we going to help him?" stopped Ellie.

"We need to report this…"

"But we are here! They will be too late!"

"Yes, sis, but this is too dangerous…" If something happened to Cole, he never would forgive himself, but he had it crystal clear: Ellie was first.

He felt his sister gaze, full of incredulity.

"Are you not going to help him?"

"I really want to, but… I can't risk your safety", said Charles, firmly. "Please Ellie! Don't do this to me…" he begged, pulling Ellie by the hand.

"Are you forcing me?" she said fiercely, unbelieving.

Charles stood and released her arm, realizing that he was doing the exact opposite of his intention to let Ellie choose her own path.He took a depth breath.

"Ok, Ellie, we have two options: we can go and report this and let someone else take charge of the situation. Or we followed them and try to rescue Cole. If we choose the last option we will be in a pretty dangerous position, I can't assure you'll be fine… So what are we going to do?"

Ellie stood quiet for a moment. They could leave, report the situation and continue with their life and nobody would blame them for not taking an unnecessary risk. This isn't their mission, their problem...

But Arthur was alone, at the mercy of three men…

"Charles, we can't abandon him!" replied Ellie, fully convinced.

Charles smiled, proudly.

"Let's go, then. We have kidnapping to stop."

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They followed the kidnappers into the service parking lot. The men were dragging Cole to a dark van parked in the last row, so they stopped for a moment to take a quick breather. Charles and Ellie hid behind a laundry truck, four cars away from them. Charles analyzed the situation: the three men were well built, but not enough to carry Cole easily. He could say that almost two of them were armed with a gun and their footsteps were loud and strong, something that could kill an agent. He took a look at thier faces and when no flash came, he deduced that the men were just thugs. If he could get close enough, he could go Kung- Fu on them.

"Ok, here is the plan", whispered Charles to Ellie, with his eyes still on his marks. "I'm going to place myself close to the thugs, and then take out everyone there. However, in order to do that, I need you to create a diversion long enough for me to get into position, do you understand?"

"Yes… but I just have a little question."

"What is it?"

"How the hell I create a diversion?" hissed strongly Ellie.

"I don't know!" answered him, raising his whisper. "Just pretend to be drunk or something."

"Drunk? Are you serious?"

"What? It's not that difficult!"

"Oh, yeah? And what if someone from the party walked by and saw me like that? It will blow my reputation, forever!"

"Well, you could seduce them, if you prefer…" he said, annoyed. The thugs had started their way to the van again; they would lose Cole if they didn't act soon.

"WHAT?" said Ellie, indignant. "Are you mad? How could you ask me to do that! I'm not a frickin' computer that can just turn off my emotions! I'm not like you, Charles!"

He froze: he had accused many times Sarah and Casey of being emotionless, but never before he had been called like that.

"And what did you expect? You want me to seduce three men! But of course, what can I expect from the boy that spent an entire summer rewatching the Return of the Jedi at night just because Leia appeared in a bikini."

He turned angrily to Ellie, forgetting where they were and what had been doing. "I have told you a thousand of times that I watched that movie for the plot… and its Princess Leia to you". Ellie just rolled her eyes. "I can't believe we're having this conversation right now…" murmured Charles.

"Well, if you didn't act like an ass…!" started Ellie, raising her voice.

"And if you could keep your lady feelings tucked away for a moment…!"

"Are you grunting at me?"

"Hey, who's here?" yelled a third voice. Apparently, their little fight had been a little too loud. Both Bartowskis went white.

"Charles! They're coming! What we are going to do? Do we run? Do we scream?", babbled Ellie, nervous.

"No, that is only going to make it more suspicious…"

They heard footsteps approaching…

"Charles…" moaned Ellie.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" His thoughts were going 100 miles per hour…

"Charles…" said Ellie, nervously wringing her hands, while she had started to see the man's shadow. "Come on! Just think: what would you do if Sarah were here?"

And he reacted, without thinking, in the same way he would have reacted if Sarah were there…

He kissed her.

Ellie was so taken off guard that she didn't reject him immediately. Instead she took a step back, and then her shoes heel broke. They fell down in the street, with Chuck laying on top of her, at the same instant the thug appeared, gun in hand.

"What are you doin…?" yelled the man, pointing the gun to them, until he realized the precarious position they were in.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" said Charles, to the both of them. He rose onto his knees, with both hands up in surrender. "I… We… Look, I know my girlfriend can be a little loud sometimes, but there's no need of pointing at us with that!" he ended nervously.

The man smirked at him. He started to walk away, while lowering his gun. Charles took advantage of that and kicked him in the back part of the knee. The thug fell and Charles knocked him out with his fist.

"Manson, is everything all ri…?" started the second man, but Charles had already flashed: with a fluid move, he rose and threw his fist at him. The man had already started to react, grabbing Charles by the neck and bringing him to the pavement again. He smashed the first thug's gun into the second one's head. He saw the last man dropping Cole and raising his gun. Charles reacted instinctively; he took a knife hidden on his foreleg and threw it at his opponent gun hand. He screamed in pain, dropping the gun. That gave Charles enough time to get to him and knock him out, as he had with the other two. Everything had happened in the span of mere seconds.

"Ellie, come on, we have to go, NOW" yelled Charles, while he grabbed Cole in a fireman's carry and picking up the last thug's weapon.

He ran after Ellie.

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When they reached the car Charles put Cole on the back seat. Ellie checked him and found that he was still sleeping under the effects of some drug. Charles let himself drop behind the wheel. Ellie did the same thing next to him.

"He's fine. He's just drugged." announced Ellie.

"Oh, that's… that's good!"

"Yes… Are you ok, Charles?"

"We're safe, Ellie. You can stop calling me Charles now..."

"Oh, yeah… ok".

The silence that followed was the most awkward silence either of them had ever felt.

"Umm… sis?"

"Yes Chuck?"

"About what had happened there…"

"Please, let's never talk of that again, ok?"

"Gotcha. That never happened…"

They went quiet again. After another minute, they looked at each other with freaked out gazes.

And suddenly, they burst into laughter.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"I know! It's just that you said Sarah and I… I just reacted, I believe"

"Wow, Sarah really had you lost in love, uh?"

He blushed and Ellie smiled at him.

"Chuck, regardless of the most embarrassing moment of my life, I have to admit that everything you did tonight was… awesome!" He smiled wide at her. "I mean, the way you managed the situation…" Ellie got serious. "I don't understand, Chuck… I mean, I know you tried to protect me at first but now… why do you want to keep me in the dark? Why were you so reluctant to show me Charles Carmichael?"

Chuck thought about it for a second. "As you said, at first it was because your safety, but at the end I suppose I was just being egotistical. The day after Devon knew my secret, he started to look at me differently, as if I were a kind of…infallible person, a man who could do anything, a hero… The same happened with Morgan. Since then, I am Charles for them, even if we are at your house for dinner… Ellie, I'm not a hero, I don't feel like one… At the same time I know that I'm not a normal person anymore. Don't take it wrong, I made a choice and I'm proud of it, but sometimes… sometimes I just want to be Chuck, the everyday guy that doesn't have to worry about crazy tyrants, and the only one who could make me feel like that was you… you were my last attachment to a normal life."

"Chuck, I promise, I will treat you the same…"

He gave her a melancholic smile. "No, you won't… but don't worry, sis, it's fine. It's part of growing up, I think"

Ellie nodded, silently. Again, Chuck's answer was something that she didn't think about. She expected something about safety and protection, even a trust issue, but not something so… deep. She made herself a promise to prove Chuck otherwise.

"Chuck"

"Yes, sis?"

"I think you're a great kisser"

He blushed and smiled shyly, and Ellie laughed again. They both knew that was the way Ellie always cheered up her brother, with an embarrassing compliment.

"Thank you, Ellie"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Another one? I never took you for a curious person…"

"Hey! I'm a researcher. Curiosity is a requirement for researchers."

"I know, I'm just teasing you… What do you want to know?"

"I was thinking… You never were the sporty kind of guy before, but you danced like a pro with Fernanda, took down three men effortlessly and you look as if nothing had happened…"

"I have had to run a lot in the last four years", joked Chuck, remembering the thousands of times he had been chased, but when he realized that Ellie wasn't laughing, he turned serious.

Chuck took a deep breath before he answered.

"Sis, do you remember our talk before Morgan, Awesome and you saved us from that van?" Ellie nodded. "Do you remember what I told you about how I ended up working for the CIA?"

"Yeah: Bryce sent you that information…"

"Exactly. What I didn't tell you was that the information was stored in thousands of encrypted images. All the secrets of almost every branch of government were in there, in only one computer: the Intersect. So, when I watched those thousands of images, somehow the entire Intersect was uploaded into my mind. And that was it: I became the most important intelligence asset in the country".

Ellie stared at him… and then she laughed.

"Haha, very funny, Chuck! Now tell me the truth" She waited for him to join her in laughter, but then she saw his face. "Wait! Are you being serious? I mean, do you really want me to believe that you have a database in your brain? C'mon, little brother, I'm a neurologist, I know about minds and I'm pretty sure that nobody can learn something only by watching images!"

"Well, sis, that's exactly the thing… not everybody can do that. And it seems I'm one of the very few…" and he started to tell Ellie about the Intersect, everything he knew about it, including Orion. Ellie just listened, quietly, only interrupting to question him about neurological aspects: does flashing hurt? How exactly flashing feels? What he feels when he flashes on an ability?... questions that only a woman who had spent her life studying brains could ask, and Chuck tried to explain the best he could.

"So… you need a trigger to flash?"

"In the beginning, yes, that was the only way… but now I can force them too".

"So, what I saw there, the fight, at the party, was just the Intersect?"

"Yes… and no" said Chuck. He saw the confused look in Ellie's eyes. " You see… I have never told anybody this, but the thing is that I use some of the skills, like Kung Fu, pretty often, so I started to learn them… I mean, after a lot of repetitions I don't need the Intersect to do Kung Fu anymore… but it still helps me to know the possibilities and the best way to punch a bad guy, so now it is a half- half situation."

"Wow! It's like the Intersect and you are the same… this is fascinating! It's knowledge implanted in a human brain! You really have a wonderful mind, little brother! The only thing that I don't understand is how the Intersect didn't drive you crazy yet"

"Actually…", Chuck told her about his crazy dreams, Dr. Dreyfus and Orion's last invention: "… and when the Intersect 2.0 started to cause brain damage, Orion gave me this" he showed her his watch. "It's called the Governor. It governs the Intersect and my neural network, like a pacemaker… or at least it did originally. I have made a few little changes…"

Ellie touched the watch on Chuck's wrist with reverence. " A neural pacemaker… Chuck, this is great! Do you know how many uses this could have? I mean… This Orion is a genius! Could you introduce me to him some day?"

"Yeah, Orion was a genius… and a great man" Chuck took Ellie's hands in his, gently. He had waited for this moment since he decided to tell Ellie the truth. "And you knew him. Ellie, Orion's real name was…"

A horrible sound came from the back seat. Ellie went into doctor's mode instantly: she knew that sound…

Cole's body was shaking uncontrollably.

"He's having a convulsion!" explained Ellie, while she moved to the back seat. "We need to get him to a hospital"

Chuck started the engine. The car roared when its wheels rolled onto the pavement.

"I believe he's having a reaction to the sedatives… I need some Fenitoin… "

"I have some medications under my seat, in a silver box"

She was trying to reach the box when she realized something.

"Chuck! The nearest hospital is in the opposite direction!"

"I know"

"So what are you doing? This man needs help!"

"I know! But we can't go to a hospital… I'm taking us to Cas… Shit!" he said, making a violent swerve that sent Ellie directly into the window.

"What the hell was that?" said Ellie angrily, returning to help Cole from being asphyxiated with his own tongue.

"We are being followed…"

"Are you sure?" asked Ellie, scared.

Immediately, a bullet hole appeared in the back window, with the bullet incrusted within.

"Pretty sure"

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_A/N: Oh, I know, I know! Another cliffhanger? A kiss between siblings? What's wrong with you Amron? Well, I honestly don't know, it's just my natural insanity… Seriously, _

_jokes aside, I hope the kiss didn't offend you; it wasn't my intention… _

_Anyway, I'm very excited about the next chapter, because we get to see the Chuckmobile in action, and Cole reveals his mission on American soil, so stay with me!_

_Review, please. It is always good to read your comments…_


	6. Chapter 6 The Car Chase and the User

_A/N Hi guys! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, as always, the first thing is thanking you for reviewing and adding my story to your alerts. To me it means that I'm doing something good with the story, even with the whole kiss-your-sister thing, like __**Doc in Oz**__ said. I swear, no more incest jokes… for the next few chapters… Now, I want to tell you something: as you know, I'm Mexican, which means I have to search the web for new episodes of Chuck. All because the frickin Warner Latin American branch doesn't want to show it on TV… Anyway, I was searching for them when suddenly I ended up on a web site with all the season 3 Chuck episodes in Spanish… from Spain (I know, it sounds stupid), which means a very different accent… It's like the difference between an American accent and a British one… so if you think the show is funny, wait to see it with a "macho" accent… Oh, God! I loved it! Morgan's voice is so… strong! It's like, if Casey's voice went into the bearded one! And the way they say "Chuck"! It sounds something like "Chack"… It's bizarre, because I'm used to the original cast voices, but it is really funny, and the voice actors are great! I have a blast watching the episodes, as you can see… so, if any of you speak spanish and have nothing to do… Try Spanish Chuck_.

_And after this "little" comment, let's see how Chuck and Ellie are doing, shall we? _

_Oh, wait! I need to make a warning: I don't know anything about medical stuff, so please; humor me with Ellie's solutions, ok?_

_**A/N**__** I'm so sorry! We have a problem with the documents, but a spaceship shaped like a vacuum cleanerintercepted the correct chapter. Maxxaran never should have disguisedit as a Winnebago. A very common problem…**_

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**Chapter 6. The Car Chase and the User.**

_Some place in the Sonoran desert…_

Sarah was sweating. The sun had already started to rise and with it, the heat. Casey and Sarah had been sent to retrieve some kind of artifact hidden in the desert. According to a turn-coat Ring agent, the artifact contained a list of every name of the remaining Ring operatives. It was a minor mission, as the Ring wasn't a big threat any longer. However, General Beckman had stressed the importance of the mission.

"How absolutely wonderful! We're here, in the middle of the desert, while your boy toy is having the time of his life eating those damned crab snacks he likes so much. Not to mention getting into the pants of rich ladies… How fair is that?"

"Ok, Casey, first of all he's not my boy toy, but he is going to be my husband very soon. So if you keep calling him that I'm going to kick your big NSA ass, understood? And secondly, you agreed to cover for him, so stop whining and let's work"

Casey grunted something like "I don't whine…", but she couldn't hear him very clearly as he had turned around, heading to the car to grab a set of shovels. Watching the sun rising and how it gently illuminated the warm sand of the desert, coloring it with all shades of amazing colors reminded Sarah of their spot on the beach. _Oh, Chuck, I wish you were here to see this with me_. She started to imagine herself in Chuck's arms, savoring the moment…

"Hey, Walker! Come on, stop daydreaming and give me a hand", said Casey, throwing her a shovel. She followed him to the excavation spot indicated by the GPS. "This is the place. Let's get this done", grunted Casey. They started to dig in the sand.

"This feels like a we are treasure hunters, uh?" commented Sarah, trying to break the ice. Being used to Chuck's interminable talk of anything on his mind had made Sarah uncomfortable with silence. Casey just grunted, without stopping his digging. "It's like being in a movie… you know? The other night, Chuck and I were watching "Riders of the Lost ark" and…"

"For God's sake, Walker! Stop talking! Geez, you're really turning into one of them! I swear, if you start to quote Star Wars, I'm going to bury you in the sand!"

"Oh, yeah? I want to see you try… I'm sorry, Casey. I just miss him… and I suppose I'm a little worried, too"

"Ah! So the situation with the rich ladies really is affecting you, uh?"

"What? No, it's not that… I trust Chuck. No, the thing is, I have been experiencing this strange feeling… like something bad is happening…"

"Come on, Walker! He's at a Gala. With his sister, the Queen of the Worriers. Really, the only way they could get into trouble is if they kidnapped someone. So stop that crap and start digging, because at this point I don't believe we'll ever reach the damn artifact."

Sarah took a deep breath and keep digging with the Colonel.

"Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"I find your lack of faith disturbing…"

"Damn it, Bartowski!"

She laughed at Casey's annoyed face, but she couldn't help but to feel ecstatic. It was the first time anyone had called her Bartowski, and it had felt…wonderful. She returned to thinking of her soon-to-be husband and her best friend; still worried about their well being. She shook her head. _No, Casey is right_… After all, it was only a gala, nothing Chuck couldn't handle…

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

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"This couldn't be more wrong!" cried Ellie, trying to stabilize Cole while she was trying to steady herself. The dark silver Mercedes was zig zagging between a long line of cars, while two dark sedans where following it.

"Calm down, Ellie, just calm down! You have to focus, how is Cole doing?"

"I already told you, we need to take him to a hospital!"

"Yeah, well, that's not possible right know, as you can see… You need to try something else…"

"Something else? Chuck, the human body is not a playground!"

"I know, but we don't have many options, so start thinking like the researcher you are and do something!"

Ellie looked at the silver case open in front of her. It was full of syringes and serums, but nothing she could use on Cole.

"There's nothing!" cried Ellie. Chuck was maneuvering at close to 105 miles per hour. He had no time to be reassuring with Ellie. "Just keep searching", he ordered.

She looked at the labels, trying to find anything. Even with the rush of emotions and concern, Ellie noted the large amount of serums and antivenins. Unfortunately, this didn't help her to focus: why would Chuck need all of them?... No, she had to focus. The only thing useful she had was a low antispasmodic, not strong enough to stop Cole's reaction. She needed some kind of catalyst… maybe, if she mixed some of the short effect poison with it… it would be dangerous, and she didn't know if it was going to work, but she had no option. Ellie took the pills and started to dissolve them into the serum. She then filled one syringe with it. "Oh, God, please, let this work…" And she injected it into Cole's chest and started to apply pressure.

Ellie felt Cole's body relaxing…

"Ha, I did it! Chuck, I did it!" yelled Ellie. "I thought I couldn't but then… I did it!"

"I'm so glad, sis! Now, if you wake him up, it will be incredible… I need some help here…"

"I don't think that will be possible, little brother. His body is still processing everything…"

"Damn it!", he cursed. He glanced into the rear view mirror. He saw the men in the sedans preparing their guns. He knew the first shot had been a warning to stop, but now it was going to be more serious…

"Chuck, they have guns!" screamed Ellie.

"I KNOW!"

"Then do something! This is a spy car, right? Why you don't release the oil or fire the rocket. Just do something…"

"And I'm the nerd in the family… Ellie, it doesn't work like that!"

"But Casey's had a missile in it!"

"Yes, but Casey is a weapons junkie, and I'm not…"

"But you said you had been working on this car!"

"Yes, but…" he interrupted himself. They had reached the highway and their pursuers were approaching, fast. They flanked the Mercedes, one on the left and one on the right… The front passenger from the left car pointed his gun at him. Chuck swerved. He needed to get rid of them, but how? Suddenly, he felt a weight in his lap: It was the gun from the thug he knocked out in the parking lot. He gulped. He didn't like to use a gun, but he had no choice if he wanted to save Ellie and Cole from a horrible death. He reached out with the weapon in his right hand. When the flash came, the Intersect informed him that the enemy was to far to make an accurate shoot. He needed to get closer…

"Ellie, I need you to come up here and take the wheel!"

"I can't! I can't stop applying pressure!"

"Damn it!" How he would get out of this? If only he had installed the damn oil spreader, like Ellie had said… Wait! He had something more powerful than that! Of course, he hadn't proved it in the field yet, but… He pulled a cable from the radio console. It was a long, white, and had a plug made of pure gold: the best conductive metal. He played with it for a few seconds, took a deep breath and then he connected it to the Governor.

Instantly, all the windows went black, with green numbers and letters running down them. Chuck felt the familiar flash sensation, the Intersect kicking on…

"Connection successful" emanated from his mouth.

"What did you say, Chuck?" asked Ellie. She looked at her brother: his body was rigid and his vision unfocused. "Chuck, are you ok? CHUCK!" screamed Ellie. Her brother took his hands off the steering wheel, and took the gun from his lap. "Are you mad? What are you doing?". He turned to Ellie and she could see the concentration in his face, almost mechanical. "Dr. Eleanor Faye Woodcomb, we are fine. We are just taking care of the enemies."

"We? Who are "we"?"

"We are the Intersect, the Mobile, and the User. Please, don't interrupt us while working". And then, he moved into the passenger seat; gun in hand, and at the same time the car went to the right, closing the distance with the enemy car. Ellie held in a gasp. _Oh, my God! He's going to kill them!_ But again, she was surprised. Instead of shooting the men, he had aimed at the ignition of the enemy car, and fired with incredible precision. Immediately, the black car slowed down, with the Mercedes doing the same. Chuck reached half of his body out of the window and shot twice more, one for each front wheel.

The Mercedes accelerated, and Ellie could swear Chuck was purring, just like a car when it starts…

"Oh, my head!... Where… Where I am?"

"Cole! Thank the Heavens!"

"What is going on?"

"Well, we're being chased by two cars full of bad guys. Chuck just took one out, and it seems he's going to do the same with the other one". Cole turned to Chuck: he was on the passenger seat, staring at the windshield - now turned into a big screen full of green numbers- and moving his mouth, but without a sound coming from them. "What the…? Wai… WHO IS DRIVING?" yelled Cole. He was a man of action; an international spy and because of that, very few things disturbed him… But he was sure that one of them was waking up in the back seat of a car, which was being chased, with Chuck Bartowski holding a gun and with no driver on the scene. He started to throw himself into the driver's seat, but then Chuck turned. "Please, Agent Cole Barker, don't interrupt us while working."

"Us?" Cole asked Ellie.

"I think he's somehow connected to the car"

"So the car is driving by itself? Like hell I'm going to let a machine take care of my life!" And again, he tried to reach the driver's seat, but once again Chuck pushed him back into his seat. "We warned you, Agent Cole Barker." Cole felt the seat belt closing around his hips, while Chuck was squinting at him. "And we don't like being called a machine, we're far more complicated than that". And just like that, he returned to stare at the screen, mumbling.

They were rapidly approaching the other vehicle, which had taken advantage of the delay from the last battle, and was now closing the street. Two large weapons were now starting to shoot at them. The Mercedes avoided the projectiles effortlessly, and kept going. "Please stay in your seats." Now, it was Ellie's turn to feel the seat belt. "We're going to take a little flight".

"WHAT?" they both screamed, but this time Chuck didn't answer. Instead, he moved behind the steering wheel. "Collision in five, four, three, two, one…"

At the last moment, the Mercedes wheels gave a quick move, sending the vehicle into the air, passing above the very impressed enemies, and then back onto the pavement. Again, Chuck shot out the enemy tires before the Mercedes took off into the night.

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Cole and Ellie were still recovering from the "fligt" when they finally reached a secure hiding spot, in the middle of nowhere. The trip hadn't been long, so the adrenaline of the moment continued to surge in their bodies. They hadn't said anything during the journey, because of both the shock and they were afraid of getting "Them" angry. Finally, Chuck's robotic voice broke the silence.

"Location secure. Starting damage scan. Intersect unit: No damage found; Mobile unit: damage to rear window, five bullet holes, moderate damage to buffers, moderate damage to wheels; one fuel tank empty. No internal damage; User unit: heart rate stabilized, high adrenaline levels and decreasing, no contusions, no fractures. High activity in the digestive system. No fatal damage. Starting disconnection sequence: three, two, one…" Chuck unplugged the cable from the Governor. Ellie and Cole saw him blinking repeatedly and shaking his head. He turned to them with a big smile.

"Oh, man! What a journey, uh?"

Ellie and Cole just stared at him, with wide-open eyes.

"Uh… it's nice to see you again, Cole"

The MI6 agent reacted to his name: he looked at Chuck intensely and then he said: "I thought I had told you to not risk your life for me again".

"What can I say? I crossed my fingers…"

They shared a little laugh.

"What is wrong with you?" cried Ellie, loudly. Chuck looked at her with concern. "YOU!" roared Ellie furious, pointing her brother with her finger. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED WITH THAT LITTLE TRICK OF YOURS!"

"Sis, please, calm down" Ellie shoot him a killer look. "Take a deep breath… come on…"

"Don't you dare talk to me like this, Charles Irving Bartowski! You better have a good explanation or…"

"I do… kind of… but first you have to calm down… you made a promise to Sarah, remember? No claims…"

Ellie hated her brother at that moment. She took a very deep breath. Chuck smiled her.

"I think you own us an explanation, Chuck", said Cole, serious. "I assume you are still working for the CIA and that the… thing in your head has something to do with this mess"

"You're right, I'm an Agent now, and yes, the Intersect is involved." He perceived Cole's glance at Ellie when he mentioned the Intersect. "Don't worry, she knows about it. Now, for the explanation: what you saw was my latest modification to both the Benz and the Governor." He showed the clock to Cole. "I thought that, since the Intersect is such a powerful computer, it might be able to link with other computers, so I customized the Governor as a link between the Benz mainframe and myself. I have used the connection before, but just for damage scanning. This is the first time I have used it in the field, but it seems that everything worked properly, didn't it?" ended Chuck, happily.

"Except for you turning into a frickin machine!", yelled Ellie.

"Really, sis, you have to stop saying that" said Chuck, suddenly serious. "I don't like being called a computer. I'm a human being, ok?"

"Oh, yeah? A human being has control over his body, and they don't let computers take control of them, like a puppet!"

"And who told you I wasn't in control? As you have clearly said, the Intersect is a computer, it doesn't have feelings and doesn't stop for anything in the pursuit of its goal in the most efficient way possible. Doesn't matter if it has to kill everybody in the process, and as you see, nobody had died. I told you before, I can control it now, I choose what is acceptable and what's not. I'm the User".

"Wow, Chuck! You really have changed since I saw you the last time! I mean, when I left you were just a pathetic geek with no will… Can you tell me how that happened?"

"It's nerd, Cole, and I still am one, I hope… just without the no- will thing. About what happened… well, some British jerk who tried to steal my girl told me a not-so-secret secret", said Chuck, grinning.

"Hey, I asked you if something was going on between you two before I tried anything… How is she, by the way? I heard you two are getting married. Congratulations!"

"Thank you. We tried to send you an invitation, but MI6 didn't want to tell us where we could find you…"

"Yeah, I was undercover… and you know how it is…"

Ellie was listening to the entire conversation. It was weird how they were both talking about agencies and missions as if it was the most common subject in the world. But of course, her definition of weird was changing a lot ever since she spotted Carmichael at the fountain a couple of hours ago…

"Excuse me, but I have a couple of questions" Both agents stared at her. "First of all, Chuck, how can you possibly control the Intersect? I mean, I saw you and it was as if it was exactly the opposite…"

"Emotions" said Chuck, simply. "That's the difference between being just a machine that follows orders and a human being. I have learned to handle my emotions in order to handle the Intersect. Sometimes it's very difficult, but I try my best to keep the equilibrium. I can't be an emotional wreck anymore, but at the same time I can't bottle my emotions either".

"You can't bury your emotions? But then how did you manage to burn an asset? I mean, did you pass your Red Test?" asked Cole. The expression on Chuck's face darkened, answering the question. "You did? Man! How can you live with it if you have emotions?"

"I didn't say I had to have all of them", said Chuck, darkly. It doesn't matter how much he had denied it, the truth was that after he shot Shaw on the bridge, something inside him had died that night. "Can we skip that subject, please? Ellie, what other thing did you want to know?"

Ellie delayed on speaking. She was trying to figure out what a Red Test was, because what memory could be so terrible for spies to want to kill their feelings?

"I just wondered… now that we're safe, what are we going to do?"

"We have to report to Beckman, I think", said Chuck, glaring at Cole. "Are you OK with that?"

"Actually, I needed to report to her when I arrived on American soil"

"Fine, then" He looked at his Governor. "Hell, it is four in the morning! She will kill us if we wake her up her! God knows she needs her beauty sleep… I have an idea: what if we tried to get some sleep too and we call her -and Devon- at a more proper hour? I don't know about you, but I'm very tired…"

"I think that is a great idea: I'm already feeling the adrenaline ebb away… and I was sedated for a while".

"You agree, sis?"

Ellie nodded with a yawn.

"Wonderful" said Chuck, with a yawn of his own. "Hey Cole, I understand if you can't say anything, but I have to ask: what are you doing in California?"

"Actually, I can tell you, but I don't think you're not going to like it" answered Cole, while he moved into the front passenger seat.

"C'mon, I think that after all you have seen, you can say I can handle it", said Chuck, both of them reclining their respective seats.

Cole was already half asleep, but he answered before slumber completely overtook him.

"I'm here to arrest Orion"

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_A/N. So there you have. _

_This is one of my favorite chapters so far, so I'm going to dedicate this to three people: first to __**Maxxaran,**__ who has been a real breath of fresh air. Helping me to polish this story with his corrections, never arguing about my lack of time sense, even if I send the draft at 2:00 am. Second, this chapter is for __**tennisgurl95**__, __**jinxed97**__ and __**centauri252000, **__who have been with me since the first chapter of __**Good Company**__, my first fic, and always took the time to review. I know I have said this before, but it is seriously appreciated. And last but not least, to everybody who have added this story to their Story Alerts. It feels amazing to know that somebody is getting hooked with this piece of trash… I'll try to not disappoint you. _


	7. Chapter 7 Beckman's orders

_A/N. Hey everybody! So finally, I have another one! Now, if you were one of the people who read the last chapter on the first few days after release, you are sure to have noted the bad grammar. Well, as I said, __**Maxxaran**__ and I had a little problem with the documents… We will be more careful next time. Also, I'm afraid to announce that I have a trip for the next week, so I'm not going to update the story again for a bit, but don't worry, I'm not leaving the story, I mean, with so many reviews, how could I? _

_Anyway, enjoy this chapter._

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**Chapter 7. Beckman's orders. **

After what it seemed to be just a couple of hours, the sun was shining into Ellie's eyes, waking her up. She stretched herself slowly.

"Good morning, sunshine!", greeted her brother's voice.

"Chuck? You know, I had the most vivid dream…" Ellie said, still with her eyes closed. "You and I rescued this British man, and then we were in a car chase with you driving a Mercedes… And you! You were… amazing… and you said, a computer in your…" she opened her eyes and saw two men in tuxedos, smiling at her. "Oh, God! It wasn't a dream?"

"I'm afraid it wasn't", answered Chuck, with a sad smile.

"Oh my God! What time is it? I need to call Devon, I need to check on Clara…" She took her cell phone out, but before she could do anything, Cole grabbed it from her hand.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Chuck! Say something!"

"Sorry, sis, but we don't know if the people who were chasing us can track your call. But don't worry, you can talk to Devon on my secure line, but first, we have to report into Beckman. Cole will not tell me anything about Orion until we do."

"Orion? You mean the genius behind the Intersect?"

"The same" said Cole. Chuck glared at the two of them. He really wanted to tell Ellie who Orion was, but first he had to know the reason Cole was searching for him. He moved the gear shift and the windshield again turned into a big screen, this time without the green numbers, and something popped out of the dashnoard, something that looked like…

"Is that…?" asked Cole.

"An X-Box controler? Yes, it is" Chuck smiled, taking the dark silver controller. "You see, I needed something familiar and Call of Duty is amazing with a 360º view!"

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Sis, can you go outside for a second? We have to discuss something with a tiny general…" said Chuck pressing the right buttons to communicate with General Beckman.

Ellie nodded and was about to exit the car when Cole interrupted.

"Are you being serious? She just woke up! And it is almost 100 degrees outside! She's going to get dehydrated! We cannot treat a lady like this!"

"It's not the time to be a gentleman, Cole!" said an annoyed Chuck. "Besides I'm sure she understands the situation. And its for her own good: the less she knew, the less danger she will be in…"

"Yeah, because she didn't rescue an MI6 agent in front of the enemy and she's not the sister of the most valuable American intelligence asset!" replied Cole, stubborn "And if she waits outside, I'm not going to say anything".

"Are you being serious? I mean, I love my sister, but I think she can take a little of heat!"

"You Americans are really lacking any chivalry."

"Yeah, well, at least we have a dental plan!"

"That's the most outrageous cliché I've ever…" started Cole, indignant, but before he could end the phrase, General Beckman had popped into the windshield.

"Agent Bartowski, we received your signa… Is that Agent Cole Barker? And isn't she Dr. Woodcomb?" Ellie give her a little smile when the General named her. Beckman glared at Chuck. "Better start explaining yourself, Agent Bartowski, or your next stop will be Fort Leavenworth. And I will have you there before you could say Buy More! I thought you were sick, but of course, your team had their loyalties well defined…"

"It was not their fault, I just asked them for a night off to take my sister to her Gala! It's nothing illegal…" blurted Chuck and the General raised an angry eyebrow. "Ok, maybe it wasn't the best idea, but…"

"General, if I may, it's not Agent Bartowski's fault, they were just there… besides, if they didn't rescue me, I would be in a torture cell by now."

"Rescue you?" said Beckman, starting to raise her voice, but then she took a moment to regain composure. "Very well, Agent Barker, then explain yourself: what is MI6 looking for on American soil?"

"My mission is to capture and extradite Orion", said Cole, serious. The general glanced him.

"Go on"

"A couple of days ago, we found a new shipload of Volkoff weapons on the coast of London. We know that the CIA captured Alexei Volkoff, so we were intrigued to know who's running Volkoff Industries now. We did a little research and found that Orion stole the Hydra Network from them. Weeks later, someone stole several documents on our deep undercover agents in Volkoff Industries. Our analysts said that the traces they found in our network correspond with Orion's work, that's why we believe Orion is the new director of Volkoff Industries. So, as you see, we wanted your help to apprehend him."

"Agent Bartowski, did you know anything about this?"

"Nothing, Ma'am, but it is obvious this isn't Orion's work."

"I understand. Anything else, Agent Barker?"

"Yes. MI6, through the New England Agreement, requires your best agent to help me on the hunt. According to the data that CIA has provided us, we want the man who took down Fulcrum, The Ring and Alexei Volkoff. We want Charles Carmichael on the case".

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If four years ago someone had told General Beckman that Chuck Bartowski's services would be required by MI6, she would have laughed on their face. Now, however, she had to admit she understood the British Agencies petition: even with all his annoying methods, he and his team had proved to be the best ones in the field.

Still, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and judging from both Bartowski faces, neither of they could.

"Umm… Are you sure about that?" asked Beckman, doubtfully.

"Yeah, yeah! Are you sure?" seconded Chuck.

"Yes, I'm sure… Why? Is something wrong with Carmichael? I mean, General we didn't expect this reaction…"

General Beckman coughed.

"I'm sorry, Agent Barker. It's just I didn't expect that request. Yes, Agent Carmichael is one of our best…" Chuck looked at her with eyes as big as the moon: did General Beckman, the same woman who one day approved his kill order, give him a compliment? Casey was not going to believe it. "…but he's also one of our most… _bizarre_ agents. His methods aren't what you expect from an agent, although his training hasn't been the most appropriate… So let me ask you again, are you sure you want Agent Carmichael?"

"Yes, I am" said Cole, seriously.

"Very well, then. Now, back to the business: Agent Barker, I'm afraid it's impossible to give you Orion because this is clearly the performance of an impostor and I'm sure Agent Carmichael will provide you with enough proof of it. However, I'm worried about Volkoff Industries' new administration and the fact that someone is stealing information under the name of an American scientist. I'm giving you authorization to perform a search. Also, I want to know the lead you were following at the Gala, if you don't mind"

"Of course. I was shadowing a mark that we believe is trying to do some business with Volkoff Industries. We believe this man has developed a powerful new biochemical weapon and he's trying to sell it to Volkoff's new leader." He finally extracted a photo from his jacket. "Here" Cole showed the photograph to Chuck, expecting it to trigger the Intersect, but instead he received a gasp from the other Bartowski.

"I know him!" said Ellie, speaking for first time. "He's Dr. Julius Moore, Westside's Director of the Research. He's one of my bosses!"

"Yes, I remember him! He was the one who meet us, isn't it?" asked Chuck, and Ellie nodded.

"But it's impossible! I have known the man since I started my internship there! He always had been so kind…"

"People can be deceiving, Dr. Woodcomb. Please, Agent Barker, keep going."

"I noticed Dr. Moore was leaving the event, so I followed him. I heard him talking on the phone about a meeting, with who I suppose was Orion, at the Mill tonight, and then everything went dark… Next thing I remember is waking up in this car."

"I will skip the details of the rescue for now, Agents. Our top priority is to know where and what the Mills and take down both parties…"

"Umm… Excuse me, General…" said Ellie, timidly raising her hand.

"Yes, Dr. Woodcomb?" said annoyed Beckman.

"The thing is… I know what the Mill is…" said Ellie, and she could see how Chuck was glaring at her, with big eyes.

"So, what is it?"

"Ummm… it's supposed to be a secret…"

Beckman took a deep breath and took off her glasses. _Why the hell do I have to deal with another Bartowski?_, she thought. "Dr. Woodcomb, I don't know if you realized that you're talking to a General who is also director of the NSA. Who is also in charge of a black ops team along with the CIA and MI6, three of the most important intelligence agencies of the world, so I believe we know about secrets. But also, we know that no secret is more important than world's greater good, so please, Dr. Woodcomb, tell us what you know!"

Ellie turned to Chuck, but he was looking at the monitor with an unreadable expression. Inside him, however, he was fighting against the impulse of yelling at Beckman about nagging his sister, but deep down he knew that the General was right… and that scares the hell from him: since when was he the one on Beckman's side? Was Ellie right, was he turning into a robotic soldier, as Casey and Sarah where when he first meet them? What the hell was happening with him?

"The Mill is the name for Westside's Underground Research Complex. They said they wanted to protect the discoveries from being stolen by the pharmaceutical companies. It is under the Main hospital, but you need a special pass to enter it. Besides, you need to know the building, because it was designed to be confusing for possible thieves…"

"I see. I'm assuming you know the building, right?"

"Yes, I do"

"Very well. Dr. Woodcomb, would you be disposed to work with us on this assignment?"

"No! No way!" said Chuck, finally getting into the conversation. "My sister isn't going to do this!"

"Excuse me?"

"Exactly what I said, General. She told us what she knows, but she won't do anything else. I refuse to make her an… an…"

"An asset." completed Beckman. "I'm sorry, but I think you have no option. If she's willing to cooperate with us, then you will use her knowledge to break into the Mill and help Agent Barker. Those are your orders, _Agent_. Do I myself clear?"

Chuck glared at the screen with the most deadly glare he could, the same glare he gave to Volkoff when he was pretending to kill him. He wanted to strangulate the little red haired troll, he wanted to made her understand… The Intersect reacted to his fury and was already providing information about the best way to break her neck… He dropped his eyes from the screen, realizing the Intersect's reaction and tried to stabilize his emotions, but how? Ellie was being dragged more and more into the world he had protected her from for four years… But he also knew there was no option: if Ellie decided to help, the only way to take care of her was by following Beckman orders.

"I said, did I make myself clear, Agent?" repeated the General.

Chuck raised his eyes to Beckman's.

"Crystal" he answered, with an unemotional voice.

Beckman gave him a victorious smile before she cut the link off.

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Ellie had never seen her brother so angry before. In fact, she had never seen Chuck angry with anybody, even Jeff and Lester, hell, even Jill or Bryce!

"It's OK, Chuck. I want to help…" said Ellie trying, to comfort him.

"No, El, this isn't right. You don't understand the danger… And I know I promised myself to go along with whatever you choose, but… damn it! You don't know how it is to be on a mission! The car chase? That was nothing, just four guys with guns… But now we are talking about Volkoff Industries!"

"Calm down, Chuck, I'm sure that between you and I, we will keep Eleanor safe! Besides, we have Agent Carmichael! He's the Volkoff expert…"

Chuck couldn't help but to give him a laugh. "I suppose we need to have an introduction" He reached into the glove compartment, extracted his badge holder and threw it into Cole's lap. He opened it, intrigued. "Charles Carmichael, at your service" said Chuck, bitterly, while he shut his eyes and let his head drop onto the steering wheel.

"Wait! Are you saying that you're the one who defeated Daniel Shaw? The one who put Volkoff in jail?"

"That's me!" answered him, faking emotion, "but I can't take all the credit. It was a team effort…"

"I should have known, after your little car exhibition…" smiled Cole. "So, Agent Carmichael, would you care to give me the proof of Orion's innocence? We were sure he is the one who stole the Hydra Network."

"Yes, he did that, well, I did that"

"Are you telling me that, in addition to being Charles Carmichael, you, Chuck Bartowski, a Nerd from Burbank, is also Orion?"

"Ok, from that point of view it's weird, but I'm not the Orion who created the Intersect. I just inherited his work…"

"I see… So he gave his work to you because you are his creation, right?"

Chuck chuckled. "I couldn't say it better".

He saw the confused expressions of both Cole and Ellie. _This must be the world upside down, where I have all the answers instead of all the questions. _Chuck took a deep breath. "Ok, I think you have to know, if we're going to do this right. Tell me Cole, what do you know about Orion, about Volkoff?"

"About Orion? Nothing more than what I found the last time I was here: computer genius, the one who built the Intersect, the only one who could remove it from you… and Alexei Volkoff, well he's one of the most dangerous men in the world, an arms dealer with a big empire across the globe…"

"And you Ellie? Did those names ring a bell?"

Ellie thought hard on the names.

"The only thing I can say about Orion is that it was dad's favorite constellation. He used to say that Mom, you and I were the stars on Orion's belt, remember?" Chuck nodded, with a little grin. Of course, how could he have forgotten that? "And Alexei Volkoff… I've heard that name before, I'm sure… Wait! Wasn't that the name of our mom's CIA handler? The one who played charades with us?"

"The same one"

"But if he was a bad guy, why do you bring him to Thanksgiving? More important, what did he have to do with our mom? What the hell, Chuck! I swear, I have never been more confused in my life!"

"I know, Sis, but our Mom is the one who must tell you that story. What I can tell you, however, is Orion's real name" He took her hands in his, and gave her his most heart warmed smile before whispering, "Ellie, his real name was Stephen J. Bartowski."

Ellie took a deep breath before talking.

"Are you saying that our crazy, paranoid father is the genius who created your watch?"

"I told you he was a good man…"

"So you really are Orion's creations, in basic term of the word… go figure", mumbled Cole.

After a couple of minutes in complete silence, Ellie spoke up.

"But then, I want to help you guys to clear my father's name! I mean, Chuck, you're completely insane if you believe I'm going to walk away from this now!"

"It's not that simple, Ellie. As you know, Volkoff knows who we are, were we live. The only reason our family isn't on the run right now is because Alexei Volkoff is in jail as we speak. We don't know if his successor knew our identities, however it is most likely that he or she doesn't know. But if we go now you turn into a threat just because you're helping us. This is not a game; this isn't about your own safety anymore! You have to think about Devon and Clara, about your future…" Chuck breathed deeply before continue. "Sis, now you know our entire family has been in the spy game long before we were born. I have fully embraced that, but my choice, our parent's choices, don't have to be yours. You are able to step back from this, to have a normal life, to escape from our family fate. This world isn't just dangerous, it changes you… it is already changing me… please, sis, don't do this."

"But our father…"

"Orion is not your responsibility, he's mine" said Chuck, firmly.

"And what about you and Cole? You two won't have a chance without someone who can guide you!"

"I wouldn't say we don't have a chance. It will be more difficult, I won't deny it, but this is what we do, Eleanor" answered Cole, with a friendly smile.

Ellie stared at the two of them.

"Ok, Chuck. You convinced me. Take me home."

He gave her a big smile. "Let's go, then." He turned the Mercedes on. "Cole, we can stay at my place for a while, we have a lot to do but above all," Chuck pointed to their outfits, "we need a change of clothes before we turn into walking clichés"

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**Some bar on Sonora…**

Casey and Sarah were completely exhausted. After hours of excavation, they had finally reached the damn artifact and now, they were currently at a bar, trying to refresh themselves before taking the plane back to LA. Fortunately for the Colonel, after that little exhibition of her newly acquired knowledge of Star Wars, Sarah had stopped making quotes. To be sincere about it, Casey didn't mind hearing them, what really pissed him off was the fact that he could understand them, hell, if he wanted, he could say the next line!

_I've been on this assignment too long._

He took a sip from his beer, looking at his partner. She looked like crap, but at least she was too tired to annoy him with her worrying about Bartowski. Suddenly, he realized that soon he was going to call her Bartowski too. Sure, he had done that hours ago, but it was only to shut her up…

The well-known sound of the Mexican Hat Dance interrupted his thoughts. Sarah answered her phone with an apologetic smile to the waitress, who mumbled something like "Americanos"_, _before she keep going. Casey just rolled his eyes.

"It's Chuck", said Sarah, while she went to a corner of the bar.

Casey gave her a grunt. He had to admit that the kid had somehow managed to stop himself from calling her every 15 minutes and he thanked him silently. If he had done that, Casey probably would be crazy by now. He took another sip from his beer when Walker's voice came across the room.

"That you rescued WHO?"

"I knew it!" grunted Casey, smiling.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_A/N. Jeje, Casey's always right… But can Ellie really escape from the Bartowski curse? We will see…_

_Do you want to know a fun fact? In Mexico, we used to say that the three stars of Orion's belt are Los Tres Reyes Magos (The Three Magician Kings), the ones who give tributes to Jesus on his birth, watching our good actions. We celebrate that on the morning of January 6__th__, with gifts for the kids, just like Santa Claus does, and chocolate and a special kind of bread known by Rosca de Reyes. Inside the Rosca are hidden little dolls in baby form; if you found one in your piece of cake, it's a sign of good luck, and the tradition says you have to have a party on February 2__th__. _

_I know, we have too much holidays…_


	8. Chapter 8 Something you have to do

A/N: So this was wrote in a rush, because my laptop died and I have to use the College computers… What's the problem with that? Well, it's because the computer lab is reserved, so I'm stealing some time… Anyway, I promise next chapter will be better.

Beta's Note: All I just wanted to squeeze this one in here. The delay on this chapter is ALL me. It took me almost a week to help out. Sorry.

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**Chapter 8. Something you had to do. **

"You wanted to spend time without your team, now you'll have it"

"But General, we both know the Intersect works better when…"

"No buts, Agent. You will face this mission alone, and that's my final word. Maybe now you will think twice before abandoning your team when you feel that it suits you."

And as normal, Beckman ended the connection without saying anything more. Chuck massaged his forehead with both hands, frustrated. He was now alone in his living room, while Cole was taking a shower. He had taken advantage of that and called Beckman to find out Sarah and Casey's arrival time, but apparently, she had taken Cole's requisition verbatim: MI6 wanted Charles Carmichael, so she was going to gave them Charles Carmichael… and nothing more.

_Well, at least Ellie is safe at home_, sighed Chuck. As soon as the Mercedes parked, Ellie had jumped from her seat and had practically run to see Devon and Clara. Chuck knows he will have to talk with her again, but right now he needed to focus. Just as Cole had said, without Ellie's information breaking into the Mill will be more difficult, but Chuck had never expected it would be so hard. Cole and he had spent the remainder of the morning analyzing the almost inexistent layouts that CIA had on the hospitals secret basement. They discovered that the first floor was nothing more than a labyrinth. Apparently, to access the real labs on second sub-floor, you had to cross it. Apparently, each room had three doors, but two of them leaded into a trap or into an exit of the building. _It's just like Ocarina of Time_, he thought, remembering the hours he and Morgan spend on find the correct sequence to cross the Kokiri Forest. The problem here was that Cole and Chuck didn't have hours to figure out the answer before a little army of guards find them. It was after they had unsuccessfully tried to hack into the system with one of the Orion's programs, that they reached to a level of frustration that ended with Cole asking for a shower and Chuck calling Beckman. He was hoping that his former handlers would know what to do…

But not this time.

Sure, he had talked with Sarah a short while ago, but she was stuck in Sonora. The only thing she was able to do was reassure him, although he could tell by her voice and tone that she was both worried and pissed at him.

"Hey Charles, do you have some clothes I can use?" yelled Cole, from the other room.

"Look in the first drawer on your right"

To make matters worse, he had checked the code MI6 had attributed to the fake Orion and, although the work was a little coarser than his father's, Chuck had to admit that the guy was good. The impostor was obviously a pro on the matter and if he or she somehow where allied with Volkoff's new director, the intelligence agencies are in for a very big problem. The fact that the hospital had a very well programmed firewall against foreign intruders confirmed the suspicion of something big cooking there.

"Charles, I think I have a problem"

Chuck, who was analyzing the program one more time, turned his head only to find Cole in a set of his clothes. Although the MI6 agent was tall, he wasn't the same height as Chuck. The jeans where just too long for him, and beside Chuck's newly acquired muscles, they weren't as wide as Cole's. This conspired to make the T-shirt he was wearing look like it was about to explode. To Chuck's dismay: it was one of his favorites, the one from the premiere of The Lord of The Rings, the Two Towers. Chuck didn't wanted to be rude to him, so he just gulped slowly and mockingly smiled at him. "I can see that… You know what? I think you're the same size as Awesome. I think I will call him and see if we can raid his closet…" said Chuck, searching for Devon's number on his iPhone.

"I thought Eleanor's apartment where upstairs…"

"Yes, it is"

"So why don't we just knock on the door and ask him in person?"

Chuck didn't say anything.

"It's because of Eleanor, isn't it? Do you think she's mad at you?"

"Frankly… I don't know, Cole", Chuck sighed. "I honestly don't have any idea what her reaction is going to be… I mean, she has a lot to digest right now and I don't know if she will be glad to see me so soon…"

"Well with everything I heard at Gala, and you do need to teach her how to keep a secret by the way, I can tell she really loves you."

"Yeah, I know… I know she loves her brother, but I don't know if she likes the spy… I mean, every time she has gotten involved with the spy world, something bad happens to her: the way our parents left us, her brother keeping secrets from her, her fathers murder… ", Cole gave him a look at the last sentence. "What, I didn't tell you? My father was shot in front of me, just to make me vulnerable. Ellie saw it all. "

"I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, me too. But that was exactly my point. The spy world has shown her nothing but disgrace, and it has always been just as an observer. Last night, however, was the first time she took any part in the action and I think it could have been a little intense for her. She has never been in a life or death situation, the kind where you have to run away for your life. Its always been in the O.R., where your life isn't in constant danger. And the way she looked at me, it was as if I were a… a…"

"A freak?".

"Exactly." He was about to start talking again, but he looked at Cole and sighed. "Do you know what? I'm probably boring you with something you don't really care about, so maybe I should take a shower and then we can go upstairs…"

"It's OK, Charles. You can talk to me."

Chuck bowed his head.

"Why are you so interested in my family story? I mean, I don't want to be rude, but this has nothing to do with the mission…"

"Because I know how difficult is to have something you love not be near you." Chuck looked at him with curiosity. "I have a sister too."

"Let me guess: she doesn't know about your real job"

"No… not precisely. She thinks I work for the government, but she doesn't know how dangerous it is. She's the only family I have left after my mother's death, so I feel like an ass every time I lie to her, and it is separating us. I've been thinking about telling her the truth, but I don't know how she will react…"

"So you're using Ellie and I as Guinea pigs, uh?"

"You got it. But please, continue. What is so disturbing about being seen by Ellie as a freak? I mean, I always had the impression you were proud of being a geek."

"Nerd", corrected Chuck immediately. "And I am, but with Ellie it is different. As you said, I've always been a nerd, the kind of guy that can tell you all the elements of the periodical table, while not being good with human interactions. Add to the mix that I was known as the poor orphan and you will have a picture of my school life before college. Besides Morgan, the only person who helped me to feel good being in my own skin was Ellie. She always looked at me with understanding, always looking so secure of herself… and last night all I could see was fear in her eyes, and even if she never said it, I know I was the cause"

"Of course she was worried, but not of you. For you. There's a difference, you know?"

Chuck looked at him.

"You know Cole? You should think about giving a seminar about confidence. You're really are good at this"

"I will keep that in my mind for when I retire"

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Sarah was in a rage. After she hung up with Chuck, she called Beckman, thinking that she would provide Casey and her with a plane to get back to LA ASAP. Instead, she had ordered them to stay and wait for the flight that already had been arranged, departing that night. Apparently, she had left Chuck on his own and Sarah couldn't support the idea of not being with him, protecting him from danger. She was leaving her hotel room when she found the Colonel's big body obstructing her way.

"What are you doing, Walker?"

"What do you think, Casey? I'm going to find a plane and fly to LA. Are you coming?"

"No, and neither will you", said Casey firmly.

"Are you kidding me? Come on, you know I can defeat you whenever I want"

"Maybe, but I hope you also know I can do the same to you. So I will ask you one more time, Walker: stand down or you will have a beautiful purple eye on your wedding day"

"I don't get it, John. I thought you would understand. You know that without us, he had no chance to be safe from Volkoff".

"No, you're wrong", grunted Casey, taking a step forward.

"I beg your pardon?" exclaimed Sarah, involuntarily taking a step back. She fell onto the bed. Casey took it as a surrender sign, so he relaxed himself and sighed deeply at Sarah's incredulous glare.

"Ok Walker, I'm going to say this to you only one time and it this conversation never leaves the room. If I hear that you said something to the moron or the gnome, I swear you will wish you were digging in that damned dessert for the rest of your life, understand?" Sarah nodded, a little perplexed at Casey's brutal statement. The big guy took another deep breath before he started.

"He's not an asset anymore, Walker. He's our partner and he's damn good at his job. If MI6 wanted him it's because of just that. He has demonstrated that he can handle himself pretty well, so stop worrying and have a little faith in him. After all, you'll be his wife soon, and I think it is time for you to take your own advice to Ellie and show him a little respect.

Sarah had no words. She just looked at him, blinking repeatedly with her mouth open.

"Stop looking at me like that, Walker. You look stupid"

She closed her mouth instantly.

"I'm sorry, but it's just that… I mean, you always call him a moron, a girl… you are always humiliating him, saying he's the worst spy you have ever worked with and now you're asking me to respect him? I'm sorry, but it's just weird"

"First of all, I never said he's the worst spy ever. A stupid, annoying one yes, but not the worst one. Second, I think you're forgetting that the moron is not only a CIA agent, he's also an NSA soldier, even if he forgets that too. I'm his superior, so I have the privilege, even the duty, to insult him as much as I want. It's a tradition that I don't expect you to understand. At least, I'm not the one who will marry him"

"Let me this straight: you only insult him as a way to be? You really respect him?"

"I won't deny it, it took a lot of time, but after all these years Bartowski has earned it. Look at what he has accomplished. All those rumors MI6 heard weren't completely a lie. He might have had our help, but we both know he was the one who planned it and the one who deserves the honor. And if you want any proof of it, you just have to remember where we were when Bartowski and Grimes apprehended Alexei Volkoff."

"Wow Casey! I never thought I would hear something like this from you..."

"Yeah, well… Alex says I have to start being more open about my feelings…"

Sarah gave him a smile.

"Can I ask you a question? Why are you so sure Chuck will be fine?"

"Because we taught him well", stated Casey. Sarah could swear she heard a hint of pride in his voice. "He's the best damn recruit I ever had, given his condition, of course. Even Grimes, with all his cojones, doesn't have the instinct Bartowski has, so I'm proud to call him my partner"

"You really care for him, uh?"

"I care for my partners", corrected Casey. "And my family. Semper fidelis, Walker. "

They spent a couple of minutes in silence. For both of them, experienced agents, these moments of open sincerity where not too frequent, even less so for Casey. And hearing him talking about his trust in Chuck made Sarah realize how important they were to him: it seems that not only Sarah had found a family in Burbank.

"John?"

"What?"

"You know I don't have what you can call a model father, so I was wondering… would you walk me down the aisle?"

A couple of minutes past before Casey answered.

"It will be an honor… Sarah"

"And in that room, Director Graham's wild card enforcer and a cold school NSA assassin embraced each other with a hug full of emotion.

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After getting home, Ellie had Baby Clara in her arms and cuddling with a worried Devon. He had tried to reassure her and get her talking about what was wrong, but all he could understand was that at the end of the gala, Ellie and Chuck had somehow helped a friendly agent. At first, he was furious at Chuck for letting Ellie fall into this mess, but then he remembered Chuck's negativity until Sarah had asked Ellie. He also remembered his own advice to her about the dangers of the spy world. So, although he didn't like to admit it, Ellie had made her own choice.

"It's OK, babe, everything is fine now. You're at home, you're safe here"

"It's… It's not that" cried Ellie, quietly. "You don't understand. I don't feel awful because I was in danger, I feel awful because I ran away when they need me". More tears appeared in her eyes. "Oh, Devon! I'm such a coward!"

Devon blinked a couple of times, having no idea what she was saying.

"What are you talking about? Come on, sweetie. If I'm sure about anything it is that Eleanor Bartowski Woodcomb is anything but a coward. I mean, look at the way you fought your entire life for your brother and you! And look at what you two are now: a recognized researcher in Neurology, mother of the most beautiful baby girl ever and a soon to be married super secret agent! And everything you are now is because of your bravery against adversity…"

"That was so sweet for you to say, Devon, but a brave person wouldn't have abandoned her little brother and a good man to go against bad people…"

"Honey, I know this must be new for you, but he's trained to do that and you aren't. You wouldn't be of any help to him. "

"You're wrong; they don't need me for a fight, they need my knowledge, babe, my information!"

"What do you mean?"

"They discovered that Dr. Moore has this dirty business with someone who has stolen my dad's identity, and that they will met at the Mill tonight. I told them what the Mill was and how difficult is to pass the security measures, but they need my help to get them through the labyrinth. When Chuck started to tell me about the dangers, I felt so scared…" A new wave of tears had appeared on Ellie's cheeks. "He said I have to think about you two, about our future. He said it was too dangerous, that they will chase us… And I know he's right, but I cannot help but feel as if I am abandoning him".

Devon hugged Ellie strongly, silently thanking his brother-on-law: he knew he had scared Ellie for her own good, to make her come home to her husband and daughter. Devon, felt Ellie's body relaxing on his arms, and he kissed her on her forehead.

"I love you. And I'm glad you're here"

Ellie smiled weakly and wiped her tears when she felt Clara glaring at them, taking her finger into her little hand.

"Me too"

They were in the middle of a more passionate kiss when the doorbell rang.

"It's OK, honey. I will answer it", said Devon, looking for the cane Morgan had found for him. He flinched a little when the plaster cast touched the floor, but he didn't want to disturb Ellie now that she was finally calm. He was surprised to find Chuck and who he deduced to be the other agent at his door.

"Hi Awesome" said Chuck, weakly. He looked as if he had just gotten out of the shower, but still Devon had the impression that Ellie wasn't the only Bartowski who felt like crap.

"This… umm… listen, we have a fashion emergency, as you can see" Chuck pointed out Cole's ridiculous outfit with his head, "so I was wondering if maybe you had something in your closet that he could use…"

"Umm… yes, I think I have something… but why don't you ask Casey?"

"Casey and Sarah are still in Sonora"

"Wait! So you two are on your own?"

"You could say that… but don't worry, Devon. We'll be fine"

"Ummm…" said Devon, doubtfully. He knew few details about Chuck's spy life, but one thing was always clear: he always had his team with him.

"Devon, who is it?" asked Ellie, coming from their bedroom, with Clara in her arms.

"It's just Chuck, honey. And…"

"Cole Barker. I have heard a lot of you", said the British, shaking hands with Devon.

"Really?" gulped Devon. He wasn't so sure that was a good thing, but if Chuck trusted him, he will try to also. "Come on; let's see if I have something for you". Cole followed Devon, leaving Chuck, Ellie and Little Clara alone. Chuck saw the trace of tears in Ellie's eyes. Ellie could see how worried her brother was.

"So, did you already eat something?"

"Yes, of course" lied Chuck. The truth was that he had been so absorbed in finding a way to break into the Mill that he had forgotten to eat. Unfortunately for him, his stomach growled at that instant.

"I see… come here." Ellie said, with a disproving look.

"Really, sis, you don't have to…"

"But I want to." Ellie gave Clara to Chuck and went to the fridge. "If I won't follow you, I can at least feed you".

Chuck said nothing. Years of experience had taught him to not argue with Ellie when she had made her mind up. Instead, he started to play with Clara, and soon she was laughing at him, happy and loudly. Ellie watched the scene, heart warmed.

"You know what? I'm a little jealous. No matter what Devon and I try, she never laughs as hard as when she is with you."

"It's because I'm the cool uncle" said Chuck, giving her a smile as wide as Clara's.

"You bet. I think she will be the only girl in school with a CIA agent as an uncle… I don't think she will have to worry about bullies…"

"Yeah, but that will be because her aunt will teach her how to be an ass kicking ninja girl. Instead, I will teach her the good stuff: music, movies, videogames…"

"Great! You will turn my daughter into a nerd"

"Hey! Being a nerd is fashionable now! Since the Internet Revolution, everybody wants to know something more… besides, with Capitan Awesome as a father I think she will be the most toned nerd ever".

They both shared a laugh and then Ellie put a sausage dish in front of him. He gave Clara to her mother, and as soon as the little one was on her arms, she stopped laughing.

"You see? I told you, you have a gift"

Chuck smiled, with a mouth full of food.

"Brother, are you sure you will be fine?" said Ellie, seriously.

He gulped painfully. He hated to lie to her, but that was the only way to keep Ellie from worrying.

"It's as Cole has said: it will be difficult, but we can handle it…" reputed Chuck. He had lost the count of how many times he had said that… especially to himself. He felt someone watching him, so he turned to see Cole and Devon. It seems that Chuck had been right, Cole and Devon were the same size.

"Are you ready?" asked Cole.

"Yes. Yes, I am". He turned to Ellie. "Well sis, Duty calls. We have to go." He gave her a kiss and started to walk to the door with Cole.

"Wait! Do you already have a plan?" asked Ellie. She couldn't stop herself from feeling the danger.

"Well… You know, I think we will improvise as we go along… and, of course, we always have Cole's method"

"And what is it?"

"Punch first, ask later" said Cole, before both agents disappeared through the door.

Ellie followed them with the gaze, feeling impotent. She felt the warmth of Devon's body near to her.

"There they go", sighed Ellie. She was trying to keep the tears at bay. Devon rubbed her back, and after a moment of watching his wife, he took Clara from Ellie.

"Honey, what are you…?"

"Go with them"

"What?"

"I said go with them", repeated Devon, firmly. "We both know you have to do this"

"But what about the danger? What about us being chased by bad people?"

"Then we will face it as a family. We must have not been trained to be spies, but I'm sure as hell we now about family and Chuck become my brother since the first time he arrived to our appartment. We cannot let him to be alone out there"

Ellie looked at him, with the eyes full of tears, but now the tears were just a signal of the big love she felt for her husband. She gave him the must meanfull, full hearthed kiss they ever shared since Clara's birth.

"Thank you", whispered Ellie in Devon's ear.

"Come safe", said Devon.

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"Charles, do you think we can stop for food before we reach Castle? I'm starving"

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Anything but hamburgers"

"Fish and chips, then?"

"Really? Do you want to start again with the clichés? I thought you…" Cole stopped himself when he saw Ellie approaching, dressed in jeans and grabbing a pair of white robes.

"Ellie, what are you doing?" asked Chuck.

"I'm going with you guys"

Chuck was perplexed.

"Have you lost your mind? I thought we talked about…"

"Yes, we did. But guess what? It's my decision, not yours…"

"You don't understand…"

"What? That there will be tremendous danger? I understand, but I know what I'm doing, OK?" said Ellie, approaching to the car. "Besides, I think you have your orders, Agent, so follow them"

"Yes, but I'm a bizarre one, remember? Really, Ellie, what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I am going to help my brother to clear my dad's name and capture a bad guy". Chuck rolled his eyes with exasperation: when Ellie had an idea, there's no power in the entire universe that could stop her. "Besides, you guys" Ellie pointed at both spies with her finger. "You guys need me".

"I think she's right, Charles. We have a better chance with her."

Of course, Chuck knew that, and although he was a little angry with his sister because of her stubbornness, deep inside he felt how the knot in his stomach, the one that had been forming since Beckman's last call, relaxed a lot.

"Fine", said Chuck finally. "But you will do exactly what we tell you, OK?"

Ellie nodded.

"And if we found trouble, you will run away, no matter what"

Ellie hesitated, but nodded again.

"And above all, and I can't believe I'm going to say this.." started Chuck, thinking of the irony in the situation.

"What is it?" asked Ellie, looking at Chuck's –Charles'- half smile.

"Ellie, stay in the car".

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A/N. You know? Since I started this fic, I was dying to put that phrase in the story!


	9. Chapter 9 Under the Buy More

A/N: All I have to say is WE HAVE A SEASON 5!

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Even with all his well-earned reputation, Cole Barker didn't consider himself a cold hearted agent. A professional? Of course. A Killer? Occupational hazard. But cold hearted? That's debatable. Yes, in the name of justice he had done a lot of things he may not be so proud of, but at the end he was a man who believed in chivalry, honor and that it entailed, however, in the eyes of the enemy, that made you vulnerable. So, in order to keep himself and his sister safe and alive, he locked his entire true persona into a deep corner of his heart. There were times when he felt like he was lost, but in the end he just needed to look inside him to know what the correct thing to do was. That's why he hadn't followed the kill order in Moscow, that's why he had helped those immigrants in Guatemala, and that's why he had backed down from Sarah Walker. That last act was the one that hurt him the most, and sometimes, when he was alone with his thoughts, he still wondered if he made the correct choice. Sometimes he wished he had been more insistent, to be just a jerk and take what seemed to be his… But he knew he never would be the one who would be loved by Sarah Walker. Still, sometimes…

Sometimes he hoped he could be _that guy._

Sometimes he whished he could be Charles Bartowski.

And when he was in a very dark mood, he hated Charles Bartowski, for no reason, just because. And he asked himself what the hell had Walker seen in him that was worthy of her love: the guy was a pathetic nerd that doesn't have an ounce of self-esteem, not to even mention his complete lack of coordination and the fact that he acted like a little girl in the face of the danger. _Nothing remarkable. A total loser_, he repeated to himself after those thoughts. But then his damned hidden conscience whispered the reality. The truth was that, even if sometimes he refused to see it, Cole knew Charles was anything but a loser. Yes, he may have been kicked from Stanford, but still he was a man who wasn't afraid to admit his own feelings and he was proud of them, in fact he didn't mind to show his ability to care to others. Charles would help anybody who he felt he needed to be helped, even if he just meet him and he tried to steal his girl: didn't he try to save Cole from torture by sacrificing himself, even if that meant a lifetime underground? From a professional point of view, that was very stupid, but from a human point of view… Cole knew he could be one of the bravest men he had known: even with all his girlish screams, he had accepted his fate as the Intersect and instead of refusing to cooperate, as many assets Cole had known, Charles would do anything his handlers told him, just because he knew how important his information was for the world. He didn't ask for anything, in fact, for what he had read in Charles' file, in return of his sacrifice, he had received nothing but harsh words, teasing, and even a kill order from the Government that had sworn to protect him… But what the papers didn't say was that Chuck's reward was something that couldn't be found frequently in their business, and that was loyalty.

Cole didn't know anybody who inspired so much loyalty and comfort than Bartowski. That's why Cole had wanted to help him, that's why he gave Charles his little advice, and that's the reason of why he didn't pursue Sarah Walker. And when he thought about that, Cole's heart was at peace, knowing that there was no better man for her than that big nerd.

And now, that nerd and his sister had saved his life.

But this time, Charles Bartowski wasn't a moron. No, this time he was the man Cole had known he could be.

Somehow, he felt proud of him.

And now that he was no longer a loser, Chuck didn't treat Cole as a menace, he hadn't been jealous like the last time. Instead, he had treated Cole as a friend, and that was, again, something Cole hadn't found easily. Chuck had put his trust in him, he even let Cole know his family, something that could be considered as a stupid movement for a spy… but not for Cole Barker.

Even if he didn't realize it, Chuck was gaining an ally every moment that he and his sister spent with Cole.

So when the three of them were in Chuck's Mercedes, Cole couldn't help but to feel so relaxed around the siblings that he was actually enjoying the mission… even with all the questions Ellie was asking.

"OK, so let me get this straight" said the doctor for umpteenth time. "The Buy More is really a CIA base?"

"A NSA/CIA base" corrected Chuck. "To be honest, I've never understood it at all, but Casey is always reminding me of that, so…"

"But then that means that everybody there are really undercover agents?"

"I know what you're thinking, sis. Not everybody is a spy. In fact, almost all the agents are underground, so no, Jeff and Lester are not spies", said Chuck, smiling. "In fact, the Buy More was just an electronics store until last year's fire. The first Castle, that's it's name, by the way-, was under the Orange Orange".

"Does that minds that the Orange Orange ceased to exist?", interrupted Cole. Chuck nodded and the British sighed. "That is lame: Agent Walker always looked good in that outfit…"

"Hey, watch your tongue!" exclaimed Chuck, and Cole just gave him a knowing look. "But yes, I know what are you talking about… And that you never saw her in her Winerlicious… Ok, I'm shutting up right now, Ellie", said the younger Bartowski, when he felt the reproving glare of her sister clearly screaming "That's not the way I taught you to talk about a woman!".

Cole chuckled. Even if he respected Charles, that doesn't mean he couldn't joke and mess with him…

"Back to the topic…" said Ellie, still with a reproving glance at her brother. "If what are you saying is true, how is that none of the real Buy More crew knows about it? I mean, did they never suspect anything?"

"Well, that's Morgan job, actually: to sell the cover and keep Buymorians away from the important things… besides, you know them, Ellie. Do you really believe they will suspect anything?"

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"I told you, Morgan, we saw a lot of people going into the Home Theater Room, but nobody comes out. Isn't that suspicious?"

Morgan just rubbed his beard with one hand. Lester Patel was in front of him, talking about the thing he wasn't supposed to know, not even suspect.

"Maybe. Or maybe you just being paranoid instead of doing the work you are supposed to do!"

The Canadian who looked like an Indian glared at him.

"You were much funnier when you were just a green shirt", said Lester before leaving.

"What did he tell you?" asked Jeff, when he saw Lester coming from Morgan's office.

"He just sends me back to work. I can't believe he's ignoring me!"

"Morgan is drunk of power. He had become The Man" nodded Jeff, sympathetic.

"Morgan might have forgotten what it means to be one of the village people, but we haven't. So, as the free citizens that we are, it is our task, no, our duty to find out what is going on here: people are disappearing in our store, what if one of them were one of the crew?"

"It's the underground people! They will raise and they will have dominion over all of us. We will end up serving them as sexual pets".

Lester gave Jeff a weird look.

"Yeah… You know? Sometimes you scare me…"

"You're welcome"

Lester just watched Jeff in silence, wondering about raising his expectations when he chooses his friends when he spotted Chuck Bartowski, his tyrannical supervisor, entering the store accompanied by his sister – he could hear Jeff panting- and a well build stranger.

"What do you think he's doing here on his day off?" asked Lester to his creepy buddy.

"Maybe they just want free coffee."

Lester ignored him, following the group with his eyes.

"They're going into the Home Theater Room"

"I knew their family was a progressive one: I can tell they are going to have a good trio…"

"That's disgusting, Jefferson!" yelled Lester.

"I just say what I saw. And I have seen Chuck entering that room a lot of times before…"

"Wait a moment! Jeff, you're genius!"

"Am I?"

"Of course, man! Look at the facts: tell me, who was the first in the entire store who started to make us work?"

"Chuck"

"And who was the first one who started to act strangely in all those years of work?"

"Chuck"

"And who is the one who has his best friend covering all his disappearances?"

"Chuck! Oh, God! He's one of them!"

"I don't know if he's "one of them", but what I can tell you is that he knows something, and this is our opportunity to follow him!"

Bunkered behind a Laundry machine, they watched Chuck and his entourage going into the Home Theater Room. Looking at everywhere, Chuck closed the curtains.

"Quick, Jeff! We need to get to them"

The Nerd Herders ran to the door room.

"Ready to know the truth?" asked Lester.

"I was born ready", nodded Jeff.

Both of them pushed their bodies against the door.

"AHÁ!" screamed Lester theatrically.

The room was empty.

"Where did they go?"

"I told you. They converted Chuck into one of them and now he's feeding his masters with fresh meat".

Lester just rolled his eyes.

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"You weren't lying! Chuck, this is awesome!" cried Ellie. She was in what she believed was the basement of the Buy More.

All the agents that filled Castle turned to see the source of the annoying sound that interrupted their work.

"Keep it low, Ellie", said Chuck, watching the scene. "Sorry! Sorry everbody! New asset, you know how is it…"

The other agents rolled thier eyes, annoyed. Everybody knew Chuck as one of the first agents that established Castle, so they always supposed he had that behavior from the long coexistence with the Buy Morons. In fact, some of them thought Chuck sold his cover very well…

"How big is this?" asked Ellie.

"I really don't know, to be honest. One day, Morgan got lost in one of the gyms. We weren't able to find him until we used the tracker that Casey implanted in his molar. Morgan still doesn't know he has one…" chuckled the younger sibling.

Ellie stooped in her tracks, with her eyes wide open. _I need to find a very discrete dentist…_

"Are you coming?" asked Cole, amused with Ellie's reaction. Chuck was far away, so he missed the way Ellie blushed. "It's OK, everybody gets a little paranoid when you first hear something like that".

"Maybe, but my brother seems to be comfortable with all these weird things…", observed Ellie, pointing at Chuck.

"Believe me, when I first met him, he was a nervous wreck: he really didn't like to have cameras in his room."

"He had cameras watching him?"

"24/7", confirmed Cole. "Remember Eleanor, before he became an Agent, he was an Asset, the most important in all the world, I dare to say…"

"And what does that mean… you know, to be an Asset?"

Cole's expression darkened a little. Every agent in the world knew that an asset was a person who must be manipulated, someone to be used as a tool to reach a certain goal and, if needed, someone to burn. Someone to have under control. Of course, an agent never says that to the asset, instead you feed the asset's ego, telling them about their importance, giving them what they need.

"It means you're someone important", he finally answered. Even if Cole have meet Ellie just hours ago, he felt terrible for keep her in the dark. After all, she saved his life. "Besides, I can't tell you how it feels, because I have never been one. " He smiled at her, trying to light the mood. "Come on, Eleanor, we have to follow Chuck before we get lost, like that Morgan person..."

They found Chuck waiting for them, in front of a grey door.

"Finally! Where were you guys? Anyway, let's go."

He punched a code into the console near him and the door opened.

"After you"

"What's this?" asked Ellie, before she entered.

"The Armory", said Chuck simply.

Ellie could say he was right: the room was filled with guns of all sizes, big and little, knives of all shapes and other weapons that she didn't even know existed. She had to admit she felt a little intimidated and scared with all those machines rounded her. Cole, on the other hand, smiled happily, as if he was in a Candy Shop.

"All right dude, suit yourself" said Chuck to Cole, while he disappeared into the other room of the Armory.

Ellie stood with Cole for a couple of minutes more and then she followed Chuck. She founded him picking between what it seemed to be a long selection of revolvers. Watching Chuck familiarity with guns crushed Ellie's soul with a painful question: was Chuck capable of kill someone? Was her little brother a killer? The only thought made Ellie shiver.

"Are you OK, Ellie?" asked Chuck, worried. Then he saw her look and the gun he had on his hand. "OH! You think… of course… this is the tranq section, sis. This is just a tranq gun…" Chuck showed her one of the darts. "See?"

Ellie took a deep breath and Chuck smiled at her, sympathetically.

"That's… That's a relief", said Ellie. Chuck gave her a squeeze on her arm and continued with his task, leaving Ellie with a dreadful sensation that, even with the realization that the gun was just a fake one, didn't go away.

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"So tell me again why do I have a moustache, sis"

Because somebody from the hospital can recognize you as my brother… how many times do I have to tell you that?"

"But I already told you: I've been here before and nobody seems to recognize me…"

"Well, you were lucky that day… besides, I bet that was before my wedding, so they didn't know you, so…"

"Ok, I get it, I get it… it's just I don't like the moustaches… I feel as if I have some kind of furry insect on my face…"

"I thought disguise was a proverbial spy skill"

"And it is… but I agree with Charles, moustaches just felt silly... and the fake ones really hurt when you remove them"

Chuck nodded in acknowledgement and Cole smiled to himself.

Ellie just rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe it… two supposed hard ass spies whining because of a moustache… You two are a pair of little girls…"

"I'm not!"

"That's not what my photo album said…"

Chuck blushed.

"Ellie! You promised me to burn those! And I was three, for God's sake!" whispered a very mad Chuck.

"But you looked so cute! And Sarah really loved to see them… specially the one with you naked in the bath…"

Chuck's face went from pink to red, and Cole couldn't stop a laugh coming, joining Ellie's.

"Can you please stop that?"

"But we're having such a good time… Ok, ok, as you wish, baby brother"

"Oh, yeah? Let's see if you like it when I show everybody my recorded tape of you singing "Baby, one more time" with disgust and everything…" Now was Chuck's time to laugh at Ellie's face. Cole were just on the verge of tears.

"Agent Bartowski, is everything OK?" asked a worried analyst, appearing onto the scene. "We heard sounds and we thought you were in trouble…"

"Yes, yes, everything is fine… I'm sorry for disturbing you…"

"No problem" said the analyst, with a last disproving glance at the three of them.

"What's wrong with him? We were just laughing a little!"

"To laugh is not a proper way to act for an Agent", said Chuck between apologizing and trying to compose himself.

"Oh, come on! It's scientifically certified that laughing is one of the most healthy practices for a human being"

"Exactly" whispered Cole with a sad smile. He immediately regretted saying it, because now both Bartowskis were looking at him, Ellie with a questioning look and Chuck with a warning one.

"What does that mean?" asked Ellie.

"Never mind, sis, just a bad joke, really… you know, British weird sense of humor…", said Chuck, trying to fix the mess. "I think we need to focus on the mission now, before somebody else find us wasting tax payers money… So, Ellie, you were saying?"

"Right… So, the only way I know to access the basement is the Personal Floor, you know, were doctors and nurses take our break… cafeteria, a couple of bedrooms… There are so many doctors that the both of you won't have any problem passing that one. That's why you're wearing the disguise, because we don't know who could be there."

"Besides that fact, is there anything else we should know?"

"Ummm…"

"Oh, no… I know that 'umm…'", said Chuck, cautious "what else do you know?"

"To pass the first filter, you need my fingerprints, a portion of my hair and to pass through Alan"

"Well, we can fake easily your fingerprints here, and you can give us your hair. And I believe the guard is not going to be a serious problem…"

"Sure… you see, the thing is Alan is a nurse…"

"Ha! And I thought our parents were sadist… what kind of parents name their daughter Alan?"

"It's a male nurse", cleared Ellie. "He's the social butterfly of the hospital, if somebody could recognize you as fakers it is him. He practically lives on the Personal Floor, knows everything and everyone and…". She stopped, doubtfully.

"And?"

"He has a crush on bearded men".

Both Bartowskis glanced the MI6 agent.

"Oh, bugger me", said Cole, lamely.

**Beta's Note: Once again. All me for the delay.**

**A/N. Next chapter: the mission. **


End file.
